BIOGRAPHICAL - 249 JOSEPH O. ALLEN, M. D., long numbered among the representive physicians and business men of Fulton county, has maintained his home in Fayette for more than half a century and is one of the most honored citizens of the town. He was born in Clarkson, Monroe county, N. Y., September 20, 1830, and is a son of Isaac and Mary (Terry) Allen, both of whom were born in Connecticut. Dr. Allen passed his boyhood days in his native town, where he was afforded the advantages of the Clarkson Academy, later attending a seminary at Lima, N. Y., after which he took up the study of medicine under private preceptorship, in Clarkson, and finally entered the medical department of the Buffalo University, being graduated in February, 1851, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same year he came to Fulton county and located in what is now the town of Fayette, though at that time there was no vestige of a town on the site. Here, under the disadvantages which attended the lot of the average pioneer physician, he labored with all of zeal and self-abnegation, ministering to those in affliction and devoting his entire attention to his professional work for fifteen years, in the meanwhile erecting the mill which he still owns and operates, the same being equipped for the manufacture of both flour and lumber. In the conducting of this enterprise the Doctor was associated with Renselaer S. Humphrey until the time of the latter's death. He continued in active practice of his profession until 1870, when he was employed as a representative by the Chicago and Canadian Southern Railroad Company to secure the right of way for their proposed line between this section and the city of Chicago. He devoted two years to this important work, and then took charge of the timber interests of the same road. When the company went into liquidation he resumed his active connection with his milling business and also with the practice of his profession. He is now practically retired, but gives his general supervision to his two fine farms and to his milling and other interests, and he has the affectionate regard of the people of this community, where he has labored so long and faithfully as a true friend of humanity. In politics Dr. Allen is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, he has held various local offices, including those of township trustee and treasurer, and he has also been the candidate of his party for sheriff and for representative in the State Legislature. He has twice served as Postmaster of Fayette, 0. He is a member of various medical societies and is identified with the Masonic fraternity. In 1856, in Columbiana county, Dr. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. McLean, and they became the parents of five children, namely : Rosa, who is deceased ; Lillie, who is 250 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY the wife of Edward Crittenden, of Fayette ; Donald A., who is a successful dentist in Toledo ; Viola, who is deceased ; and Earl, deceased, who was a drug salesman, residing in Grand Rapids, Mich. WILLIAM BURR ALLEN, proprietor of a livery and sales stable at Swanton, was born in Lucas county, one and one-half miles east of his present home, on October 27, 1858. He is the son of Frederick and Amanda (Hernick) Allen, both natives of Ohio Frederick Allen was born m Norwalk and from there removed to Lucas county. He was a carpenter and joiner by occupation and lost his life on August 13, 1869, by falling from the scaffold of a building in process of erection at Toledo. His widow is still living and makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Minnie Atkinson of Canton, 0. Here follows the names of the seven children born to this couple : James L., a locomotive engineer of Toledo, O.; Emma, the wife of Lewis Chambard, a resident of Rathdrum, Idaho; William Burr ; Catherine, who married in Silver King, Idaho; Viola, the wife of Jacob Gehring, station agent at Swanton of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway ; Minnie, now Mrs. Atkinson, and one child that died in infancy. William Burr Allen grew to manhood at the homestead, receiving a public school education. He learned the occupation of locomotive engineering, and in that capacity was employed by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company for more than eleven years, his residence being at Toledo, where he lived for eighteen years. After his marriage he located on a farm in Fulton township and followed farming for six years. On September 13, 1893, he removed to Swanton and embarked in the livery business and in that of buying and selling horses, in which enterprise he is still engaged. His stable, well stocked with the best of horses and up-to-date vehicles, has proved a paying venture. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a Republican. On May 15, 1883, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Mable Witt, a native of Fulton county and the daughter of Horatio and Alvira Witt. No children were born to this marriage. His first wife having died on the day of December, 1891, on May 13, 1894, he was wedded to Miss Mary Duncan of Fulton county. This union has been blessed by two children, named Frederick Seymour and Herrick. CHARLES ARNSBARGER, one of the progressive young farmers and business men of Fulton county, residing in the village of Brailey, is incumbent of the office of trustee of Swan Creek township, and is a member of one of the old and well known families of this favored section of the Buckeye state, four generations of the same being at the present time resident in the village of Brailey. He is a son of Orlando Arnsbarger, of whom individual mention is made in the succeeding memoir, so that further reference to the family history is not demanded in the present connection. Charles Arnsbarger was born on a farm in Chesterfield township, this county, on BIOGRAPHICAL - 251 the l0th of October, 1872, and when he was still a small child his parents removed to Dover township, where he was reared to maturity on the homestead farm, and his educational discipline was secured in the excellent public schools of North Dover. On the 12th of May, 1897, he located on the farm which he now owns, in Swan Creek township, adjacent to the village of Brailey. The farm is under effective cultivation, is equipped with excellent buildings and is otherwise well improved. The village of Brailey was platted about 1901, and ever since it began to assume aught of pretentiousness as a trade center Mr. Arnsbarker has here been engaged in the sale of farming implements and machinery, pumps, etc., and he also operates a well-drilling outfit, in the meanwhile continuing to give his supervision to his farm. He has been enterprising and has manifested much discrimination in his business affairs, and he is the owner of the Charles Arnsbarger addition to the village of Brailey, having platted the same into a considerable number of most desirable building lots, which have met with an appreciative demand. In his political allegiance Mr. Arnsbarger is a consistent and uncompromising Republican, taking a loyal interest in the public affairs of the nation and especially in local matters. In November, 1904, he was elected trustee of Swan Creek township, with jurisdiction over the northeast portion of the township, in matters pertaining to general improvements, contruction of bridges, care of the indigent, etc. He is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 590, Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Arnsbarger is a zealous and valued member of the United Brethren church, taking an active part in the various departments of the church work and being held in high regard in the social circles of the community. December 24, 1896, Mr. Arnsbarger was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Free, who was born in York township, this county, being a daughter of John and Adeline (Andrews) Free, now residents of Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. Arnsbarger have three sons, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are as follows : Perry, March 6, 1898; Coy, September 24, 1900, and Howard, January 3, 1903. ORLANDO ARNSBARGER, one of the substantial farmers and honored citizens of Swan Creek township, owning a well improved farm a short distance east of the village of Brailey, is a native of the adjoining State of Michigan, having been born in Adrian, Lenawee county, on the 27th of June, 1851, and being a son of Daniel and Abigail (Barber) Arnsbarger, the former of whom was born in Cumberland county, Pa., September 2, 1826, and the latter was born in the State of New York, in 1831, their marriage being solemnized in Williams county, Ohio, where their respective families located in the early pioneer days. The parents of Daniel Arnsbarger located in that county in 1840, and there he was reared to maturity, continuing his residence there for a number of years thereafter and for a time residing in Lenawee county, Mich., but after the Civil war he took up his abode on a farm which he purchased in Dover township, Fulton county, where he and his wife 252 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY remained until 1897, when they took up their residence in the village of Brailey, where they now make their home, venerable in years and held in unqualified regard by all who know them. Mr. Arnsbarger is a stanch Democrat in politics and both he and his wife are members of the Christian or Disciples' church. It is interesting to record that in the village of Brailey four generations of the family, are now found represented. Orlando Arnsbarger was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, in Williams and Fulton counties, and is indebted to the common schools for his early educational advantages, which were somewhat limited. He became one of the representative farmers and citizens of Dover township and continued to give his active supervision to the operation of his fine farm until 1901, when he took up his residence in Brailey, purchasing forty acres of land contiguous to the village, having platted a portion of the tract into village lots, which he has placed on the market as Arnsbarger's addition to the village of Brailey, and he is also devoting special attention to the handling of wood for fuel purposes, cutting and preparing the timber to a large extent from the land his own possession. In politics Mr. Arnsbarger has ever given allegiance to the Democracy,, and while a resident of Dover township he served several years as school director. Mrs. Arnsbarger became a member of the Disciples' church when fifteen years of age, but in later years has been identified with the United Brethren. In 1871 Mr. Arnsbarger was united in marriage to Miss Mina Cameron daughter of John D. and Margaret (Lee) Cameron, both of who were born in Holmes county, Ohio. Mrs. Cameron died on l0th of June, 1898, and her husband is now living in Ossian, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Arnsbarger have four children, namely: Charles Franklin, Della and Lucelia. Charles is individually mentioned elsewhere in this publication; Della is the wife of Lewis C. Winzeler, a farmer near Brailey, and Lucelia is the wife of Ernst L. Kirkman, who is a resident of the village of Brailey. FRED F. BANISTER, to whom the practical details of farming and stock-growing are familiar, through ample experience, is numbered among the successful and popular agriculturists and valued citizens of Clinton township, his homestead being eligibly located one and one-half miles to the northeast of the county-seat, the city of Wauseon. Mr. Banister was born in Lorain county, Ohio, on the 21st of June, 1860, and is a son of Julius and Sabrina (Mead) Banister, the former of whom was born in Huron county and the latter in Portage county, Ohio. The parents were residents of Lorain county for many years, having come thence to Fulton county in 1880, and they are now residing on their well-improved farm, in York township. Fred F. Banister Was reared to the disciples of the farm, and his educational opportunities were those afforded by the public schools. He has found scope for satisfactory and profitable enterprise in continued identification with the industry of agriculture, and in 1890 he purchased forty acres of his present homestead, securing an adjoining BIOGRAPHICAL - 253 tract of equal dimensions, in 1900. He has made many improvements on his farm, which is among the many attractive places which lend charm to this favored section of the county, and he is known as one of the progressive farmers of the county and as a citizen ever loyal in spirit and action, He is a Republican in his political allegiance and has served his township in the office of road supervisor, though he has had no overweening ambition for public office of any description. He is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church., In 1885 Mr. Banister married. Miss Abiah Kline, who was born in Freedbm township, Henry county, Ohio, March 26, 1862, being a daughter of Harmon S. and Phoebe (Caldwell) Kline, the former of whom was born in Sparta, Livingston. county, N. Y., in 1827, and the latter in Philadelphia, Jefferson county, N. Y., on the 28th of May, 1830. The father died in 1900 and the mother on the 9th of April, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Banister have had two children: Orville K, who was born March 19, 1888, and who died n; April 1, 1890, and Rinaldo C., who was born January 25, 1893, and who is now attending school in Wauseon. EDWIN L BARBER, president of the Bank of Wauseon, is a native of that city, having been born there February 5, 1862. He is .the son of Col. Epaphras Lord and Sophia H. (Watkins) Barber, both natives of Ohio. His grandparents were Epaphras Lord and Jerusha T. (Sargent) Barber. Col. Epaphras Lord Barber was born in Cleveland, December 6, 1830. He grew to manhood on his father's farm near that city and attended the public schools until eighteen years old. His first employment was with the engineering corps of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Chicago railway. company. Then for two years he attended a private school to perfect himself in the profession of civil engineering. In 1853, while in the employ of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway company, he came to Wauseon. After acquiring, land at this city and in other parts of Fulton couy, he quit the railway company and embarked in the real estate business. From 1858 to 1860 he served as agent of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway company at Wauseon. In 1861, on the first call for troops by the general government he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Ohio infantry, with the rank of captain. After three months' service he was appointed major of the Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry. In this capacity he served eight months in Kentucky, when, owing to the death of his partner, Samuel Leggitt, he found it necessary to resign. Soon after, upon being commissioned colonel by Governor Todd, he organized the One Hundredth and the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio regiments, and was placed in command of the latter. He served in this capacity until the fall of 1862, when he returned to Wauseon. Through his instrumentality the Bank of Wauseon was established in April, 1863, with which institution' he was connected at the time of his death. April 3, 1899. Upon the organization of the. Ketchum national bank of Toledo, he was chosen vice-president of 254 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY that institution. From 1895 to 1899 he was president of the National Bank of Commerce of Toledo. He was associated with Mr. N. H. T. Yaryan in the plant of the Toledo Heating and Lighting company, one of the largest concerns of that city. Colonel Barber was a patriotic citizen, a brave soldier, and a successful business man. He possessed those sterling qualities that characterize the true man and that make success in fife a certainty. On October 20, 1853, he married Miss Sophia H. Watkins, the daughter of Timothy Watkins of Cleveland, at present a resident of Detroit, Mich. Timothy Watkins, whose ancestors came from Connecticut, was prominent in the public affairs of Cleveland and Cuyahoga county, having served as mayor of the former and as commissioner of the latter. The children of Colonel Barber and wife are : Addie L., who resides with her mother at Detroit ; Edwin L., and Herbert, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work. Edwin L. Barber was reared in Wauseon and received his elementary education in the public schools of that city. He was of the class of 1882 of Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Afterwards he entered the employ of the Standard Oil company at Titusville, Pa. He next turned his attention to railroading, being in the service first of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern at Cleveland and afterward in that of the Santa Fe at Topeka, Kansas. In 1887 he resigned his position with the Santa Fe to enter the Bank of Wauseon as cashier. Four years later he was made its president and is now serving in that capacity. In order to give Wauseon the benefit of an independent telephone system he, together with other progressive citizens, organized and installed the Wauseon Independent Telephone company. So successful did this venture prove that Mr. Barber entered with his accustomed zeal into the independent telephone construction business, with the result that he is to-day recognized as one of the leading spirits, if not the leading one, in this business. Under his able direction no fewer than sixty systems have been installed in as many different towns and cities throughout the country, one of the last to be established being at Kansas City, Mo., whose subscribers number thirteen thousand five hundred: He is president of the Central Telephone Construction company of Wauseon, 0. Mr. Barber is affable, courteous, quick, alert, accurate and combines all the social and business qualities that go to make up a leader in business—in short, a captain of any industry to which he may, devote himself. Edwin L. Barber was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary E., the daughter of A. W. McConnell, a retired merchant of Wauseon. This distinguished man was born in Wayne county, 0., in 1831, his parents being William and Mary (Russell) McConnell. His prominence in public affairs is evidenced by the fact that he was twice honored with the auditorship of Fulton county. William McConnell was born in Lancaster county, Pa., and served with credit in the War of 1812. A. W. McConnell married Miss Rosanna Smith, a native of Trumbull county, 0. The following children were born to Mr. McConnell and wife: Edward (deceased) ; Rolla A., of Lorain, 0.; Florence, the wife of C. E. Guilford, treasurer BIOGRAPHICAL - 255 of Fulton county; Mary E., and William S. (deceased). The children of E. L. Barber and wife are Harold M. and Mary Louise. HERBERT A. BARBER, cashier of the Bank of Wauseon, of which his brother, Edwin L., is president, is a native of that city. His distinguished father was at the time of his death one ofthe most prominent and successful business men of Northern Ohio. A sketch of his equally prominent brother, Edwin L. Barber, in connection with that of his father, appears immediately preceding this one. Colonel Barber certainly had just cause to be proud os his children, and it is equally certain that they will honor his name by leading pure and honorable lives and by ranking among the foremost of their fellow citizens. Herbert A. Barber was educated in the public schools of his native city. Great care was taken to fit him thoroughly for the responsible position he now holds. To all fill successfully an office in a great financial institution requires executive ability of a high order and sound judgment. No mistake has been made in placing him in this position, for he has clearly demonstrated his ability to manage the business successfully. Busy as he is with banking interests, he finds time to devote to public affairs. He is always ready and willing to do all in his power to promote any enterprise that is calculated to benefit Wauseon and Fulton county. The King Wind Mill company, the Wauseon Canning factory and the Ohio Dairy company are some of the business concerns in which he is interested, holding as he does, the treasurership of all of them. These concerns have brought prosperity to Wauseon and to the farmers of Fulton county. Mr. Barber married Miss Edna M. Kerr of Pittsburg, whose people are quite promine in that city. Two very interesting children, William Allen and Sophia Adeline, have been born to Herbert A. Barber and wife. JOHN. H. BARDEN, the able and popular mayor of Lyons, and one of the leading representatives of the agricultural interest of Royalton township, was born in this township, December 20, 1862, and is a son of Benson L. and Mary E. (Young) Barden, the former of whom was born in Collins, Erie county, N. Y., and the latter in Lorain county, Ohio. The paternal grandfather, John L. Barden was likewise a native of the old Empire State, and he settled in Royalton township about 1857, taking up eighty acres of land in Royalton township and developing one of the valuable farms of this section. He died on this homestead, in 1886, and his wife also died on the home farm. Their children were John, Francis, Benson L., George L and Allen, all of whom are deceased ; Almira, deceased wofe of Stephen Bowen; Mareda, wife of William Potter; Ann, wife of Lyman Jeffers; Augusta, deceased wife of James Jenkins; Frederick and Henry, who reside in this county, and Adelaide, wife of Herbert Smith. John Young, maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a pioneer carpenter of Lorain county, where he died. Benson L. and Mary E. Barden came .to Fulton county in 1857 , and the former took up one hundred and sixty acres of land in Royalton township, reclaiming the property from its wild state and becoming 256 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY one of the honored citizens and prosperous farmers of the township. He continued to reside on the homestead until his death. He was a man of sterling character and much ability and wielded considerable influence in local affairs, having served several terms as township trustee and two terms as infirmary director of the county. He was the chief promoter of the cheese factory in Amboy township, being associated with others in the erecting and equipping of the plant, which was the first of the kind in this part of the county. He and his wife were devoted members of the Christian, or Disciples' church, and he was affiliated with the Royalton Union Lodge of Free and Accepted. Masons. Following is a brief record concerning his children: Alice married Alonzo Patterson and after his death became the wife of Charles L. Seward, their residence being in Royalton township ; Eliza is the wife of Melvin D. Seward, of Gladwin county, Mich.; Ermina is the wife of Alfred Viers, of Royalton township; John H. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Lottie and Cora are deceased, and Charles W., who married Alta Smith, is a farmer of Royalton township. John Henry Barden was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools. While farming has been his principal vocation from his youth he has also been identified with other lines of enterprise, manifesting his public spirit by supporting such business undertakings as have met the approval of his judgment, and being one of the leading citizens of his native township, where his entire life has been passed. His homestead farm, in the village of Lyons, comprises eighty acres, and is one of the model places of this part of the county, improved with fine buildings and conducted according to the most modern ideas , and scientific principles. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican, and he served one term as trustee of Royalton township, and he was one of the first members of the village council of Lyons, which was incorporated in 1900. He took an active part in securing the village charter, and he continued a member of the council until 1904, when he was elected to the office of mayor, and his administration has justified the mark of appreciation thus accorded by the voters of the village. He and his wife arc members of the Christian church, and fraternally, he is identified with Royalton Union Lodge, No. 434, Free and Accepted Masons; Lyons Chapter, No. 75, Royal Arch Masons ; and Lyons Lodge, No. 622, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1882 Mr. Barden was united in marriage to Miss Mary Mobus, who was born and reared in Amboy township, a daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Ottgen) Mobus, and of the three children of this union two survive, Elma, who remains at the paternal home, and Floyd A., who married Miss Opha Noble, and who is associated in the work of the paternal homestead farm. Mrs. Barden's death occurred on the 21st or February. 1904, and in 1905 Mr. Barden married her sister, Mrs. Rose Warren, who presides most graciously over their attractive home. OLIVER P. BARNES, who is a contractor and builder at Lyons, and the owner of a valuable farm in Royalton township, has BIOGRAPHICAL - 257 passed the major portion of his life in Fulton county, from which he went forth to do yeoman service as a soldier during the Civil war, and the same loyalty of purpose has marked his course in all other relations of life, so that he has not been denied the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact. Mr. Barnes was born in Freedom township, Holmes county, Ohio, June 12, 1840, a son of Leonard and Mary (Day) Barnes, both born in Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Holmes county in the pioneer days, there residing until October, 1849, when they came to Fulton county and located in Clinton township, where the father purchased 120 acres of land, south of Wauseon, reclaiming much of the same from the wild state and developing a valuable farm. He died on this homestead, at the age of seventy years, and his widow attained the venerable age of eighty-two years. Of their large family of ten children reached years of maturity, namely : Catherine, Wife of Rob Foster; William; Sarah E., wife of Judson Jones ; Samantha, wife of Dennis Foster ; Louise, wife of George Biddle; Hortensa, wife of George Scamp; Oliver Perry ; Francis Marion; Thornton and Winfield. Oliver P. Barnes was eight years of age at the time when his parents took up their residence in Clinton township, where he was reared to manhood on the home farm, receiving a good common school education, and there he remained until July, 1862, when enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he took, part in the battles of Knoxville, Jonesboro, Limestone Station and other engagements of minor importance, remaining in the service until the close of the war and receive his honorable discharge in June, 1865, at Lexington, Ky. He then returned home and for the ensuing four years was engaged farming in Clinton township. In 1869 he went to Missouri, where followed the same line of enterprise until 1876, when he returned to Clinton township, where he resumed farming on the old homestead, there continuing operations until 1881, when he purchased present farm of ninety-three acres.. in Royalton township, clearing portion of the place and making numerous improvements of substantial description, and he there remained until 1903, since wh time he has maintained his home in the village of Lyons and has here followed the carpenter's trade, being a good workman and having followed this trade as an avocation to a greater or less extent for a number of years. He is a popular and well known citizen, is Republican in his political proclivities, and is a comrade of Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the Republic, in his home town. February, 1868, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Andrews, daughter of Matthias and Mary (Strock) Andrews, pioneers of Clinton township, and the four children of this union are Winfield, Frederick, William and Lulu, the last named being the of George Evers. JOHN BAUMGARDNER, one of the representative farmers of the younger generation in German township, has here made his home from the time of his birth, being a member of one of the well-known   258 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY pioneer families of this section of Fulton county. He was born on the homestead farm on which he now lives, the date of his nativity being September 11, 1873, and he is a son of Samuel and Barbara (Zimmerman) Baumgardner, the former of whom was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, and the latter in what is now the German province of Alsace-Loraine. In 1848, at the age of twenty-three years, Samuel Baumgardner immigrated to America, arid after visiting various portions of the Middle West he located in Fulton county. In his native land he had followed the vocation of cheese-making, but after taking up his residence in Fulton county he learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for some time, being a good workman. As his resources increased he began to buy land, and he became one of the extensive farmers and prominent citizens of German township, having been the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of land at the time of his death, in 1894, and his devoted wife passed away about fourteen months later. Of their ten children four are living: Fanny is the wife of Adam Moll, of Ridgeville, Henry county; John is the immediate subject of this sketch ; Emma is the wife of John S. Bruehlman of Alberta, Canada; and Rebecca is the wife of Benjamin J. Weiderkehr, of Phoenix, Ariz. John Baumgardner was reared to maturity on the home farm and is indebted to the public schools of German township for his educational advantages. He continued to be associated with .his father in the management of the farm until the latter's death, and since that' time has continued to reside on the homestead, owning one hundred and five acres and giving his attention to diversified farming and the raising of good grades of live-stock. His faint is well improved and constitutes one of the attractive rural homes of the county. Mr. Baumgardner is one of the stanch adherents of the Democratic party in his township, having been for some time past a member of the township central committee of the same, and he is also incumbent of the offices of justice of the peace and member of the school board. December 20, 1896, he was married to Miss Eliza Zimmerman, daughter of Jacob Zimmerman, a substantial farmer of German township, where he died in 1904, having been born in this township, where his parents settled in the early pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Baumgardner have two children, Roland and Harold. GEORGE F. BEATTY is one of the thorough and popular hotel men of Fulton county, being proprietor of the Hotel Beatty, at Lyons, and he is also a dealer in all kinds of agricultural implements and machinery, being one of the well-known and reliable business men of this part of the county. He was born in Chesterfield township, Fulton county, on the 16th of June, 1850, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county. He is a son of Holoway H. and Elizabeth (Jefferson) Beatty, both of whom were born in Sussex county, N. J., the respective families having 'been established in America in the Colonial era. Holoway and Elizabeth Beatty came to Fulton county in 1845, passing the first three years in Royalton township and then removing to Chesterfield township, where the father purchased eighty acres of land, in Section 24, BIOGRAPHICAL - 259 reclaiming the same from the wilds and eventually developing good farm. There both he and his wife remained until death. died in 1879, aged seventy-seven years, and she passed away in 1887 aged seventy-nine years. They became the parents of eight children ,namely: Nancy, who is the wife of James Stutesman; Margaret, wife of the wife of Henry Fisher ; Sidney S., who is a resident Morenci, Mich.; Julia, who is the wife of William Gates ; Maha who is the wife of Isaac Davidson ; Elizabeth; who is the wife George Gorham, and George F., whose name initiates this sketch. The last named was the youngest of the family and was reared the homestead farm, while he received such educational advantages as were afforded in the: common schools of the locality. On attaining his majority he engaged in farming and dealing in live stock, in which he continued until 1900, being very successful in his operations and becoming the owner of a fine farm property in Chesterfield township. In the year mentioned he engaged in the ho business in Lyons, and he has shown himself admirably fitted for business, his house being most popular with the traveling public which fact is the best voucher as to its being ably conducted. He purchased the hotel property in 1902, and he still owns his homestead farm, in Chesterfield township. In March, 19o5, he engaged in Agricultural implement business, giving the same his personal sup ;vision and having the agency for a number of the leading mar factories of implements and machinery, and he is securing a representative patronage in this department of his enterprise. In politic he is a Democrat, and he is affiliated with Royalton Union Lodge No. 434, F. & A. M. In 1875 Mr. Beatty was united in marriage to Miss Emma Sellers, who was born and reared in Chesterfield township, being a daughter of John and Lavina (Sanford) Sellers, of this union five children have been born; Holoway H. is at the he with his father; Johnston is in charge of the homestead farm; Ada who became the wife of Warren Acker, is deceased; and Lizzie a Libbie are twins, the former being the wife of Eugene Tuckerman find the latter the wife of Wilton Johnston, William E. is at home in Lyons. ARTHUR BEEBE, one of the representative young farmers Chesterfield township, Denson being his postoffice address, was born on the old homestead farm, not far distant from his present residence, on the 17th of November, 1884, being a son 'of David and. Eunice, E. (Butler) Beebe. He was reared on the home fa and continued his studies in the public schools of Denson for a period of ten years, after which he was a student in the high school at Morenci,, Mich., for one year. Since leaving school, he has given his attention to systematic and successful farming, owning a landed estate of two hundred and sixteen acres, which he is managing with marked energy and discrimination, though he has recently attained to his legal majority, in November, 1905. He a Republican in his political proclivities, and in a fraternal way identified with the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America 260 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Lyons. He is distinctively popular in the community which has represented his home from the time of birth and is a member of one of the prominent families of this section, a review of the career of his father being incorporated in the succeeding memoir, so that it is not demanded that the record be repeated in the present connection. On Christmas day of the year 1904 Mr. Beebe was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Mead, who was born in Chesterfield. township, April 13, 1887, being a daughter of Oscar J. and Cora (Sanford) Mead, the former of whom was born in Fulton county, in 1859, and the latter in Michigan, in 1869, and they now reside on their homestead farm, one and one-half miles northwest of the village of Lyons, in Chesterfield township. Mr. and Mrs. Mead have five children, namely : Mabel, wife of Clarence Force, of Weston, Mich. Ethel, wife of the subject of this sketch ; and Myrtle, Lloyd, and Velma, remaining at the parental home. DAVID L. BEEBE, one of the prominent farmers and extensive landholders of Chesterfield township, is a member of one of the influential pioneer families of Fulton county, which has been his home from the time of his nativity. He was born in Chesterfield township, June 2o, 1853, and he was here reared and educated, being afforded the advantages of the common schools and growing up under the grateful discipline of the farm. February 19, 1874, Mr. Beebe was here married to Miss Eunice E. Butler, who was born in Chesterfield township, May 29, 1853, being a daughter of John S. and Lavina Butler, early settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Beebe have five children, namely: Roa H., who is the wife of Walter Fay, a successful young farmer of Chesterfield township; Arthur, who is individually mentioned on another page of this work ; and Myrtie and Clara, who remain at the parental home. Mr. Beebe is the owner of three hundred and forty-four acres of valuable land, and in addition to his extensive agricultural operations he is also a large grower of and dealer in live stock of all kinds. In political matters his support is given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are valued members of the church. David L. Beebe is a son of Lyman L. and Hulda Beebe.. The father was born in Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., July 7, 1808, being a son of A. M. and Lucretia (Huntley) Beebe, both born in Connecticut, while they passed the closing years of their lives in the State of New York. For his first wife Lyman L. Beebe married Miss Julia Clement, who was born in Ontario county, N. Y., a daughter of John and Esther (Niles) Clement, the former born in England and the latter in New York State. Mrs. Julia Beebe died on the 4th of September, 1849, her children having been as follows : Nelson, born December 14, 1836, died February 22, 1855; Esther, born May 26, 1839, died September 13, 1849; and James W., horn June 12, 1842, died December 6, 1849. In Fulton county, on the 12th of February, 1852, Lyman L. Beebe consummated a second marriage, being then united to Mrs. Hulda Lee, widow of David Lee and daughter of Peleg and Sarah (Hamlin) Standish, both of whom BIOGRAPHICAL - 261 were born in Massachusetts, the latter's death occurring in 18211, the former died in 11853. Mrs. Hulda Beebe had two children by her first marriage, Adaline, born November 27, 1842 ; and Peleg born November 27, 1845. Of the second marriage David L., subject of this sketch, Was the only child. Lyman L. Beebe was one of the early settlers of Fulton county, having here taken up his residence in 1840, and having purchased a tract of land in Chesterfield township, where he developed a. farm, also building the first saw-mill in the township and county, in 1844, and twelve years later he erected another mill, in Section 13, this township. Lyman Beebe died March 25, 1885. LOUIS O. BENNER has been engaged in the jewelry business in Fayette for more than thirty years, is a veteran of the Civil war and is one of the well-known and highly-esteemed citizens of Fulton county. He was born in Low Hill township, Lehigh county, Pa, pm the 11th of August, 1839, and is a son of Israel and Judith (Rupp) Benner, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, being representatives of pioneer families of the State and of stanch German lineage. The father taught school for more than thirty years, in Lehigh and Schuylkill counties, and was also a jeweler, being engaged in business for a long term of years. He was a man of much ability and of sterling character, commanding the esteem of all who knew him. In later life he devoted his entire time to watch-making, having been a skilled workman. He died in Kutztown, Berks county, Pa., in 1885 at the fit the age of seventy-three years, having there been engaged in watch making up to the time of his demise. His ancestors settled in the old Keystone state many years prior to the Revolution, in which a number of representatives of the family were patriot soldiers. Judith (Rupp) Benner was born in Low Hill township, Lehigh county, Pa., and died in 1904, at the very advanced age of ninety-one years, and her remains rest beside those of her husband, in the cemetery at Kutztown, Pa. Louis 0. Benner secured his early education in the common schools of Schuylkill county, Pa., and supplemented this discipline by attending night school, and he had the further advantage afforded by a cultured and refined home. He was the first in order of birth in a family of ten children, of whom two died in early childhood. Elias F. is a resident of Rome City, Ind.; Rose is the wife of john Saunders, of Reading, Pa.; Samuel is a watch-maker and resides in Kutztown, Pa.; Louis O. is the immediate subject of this review; Eliza resides in Kutztown, Pa., and the others of the family are deceased. As a boy Louis O. Benner worked with his father at the jeweler's trade, he learned the silversmith and engraving trade under the direction of a skilled engraver employed by his father, and he also became proficient in the chemical part of goldsmithing, including plating, and is a master of all details of the watch-making and jewelry business being known as one of the most expert workmen in this section of Ohio. In 1859 he came to Ohio and located in Wadsworth, Medina county, where he was engaged in the watch-making business at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. September 14, 1861, at C 262 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY land, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Second Ohio volunteer infantry, proceeding with his command to St. Louis, Mo., and being thence ordered to Fort Scott, Kan., the regiment being identified with the operations in Northwestern Missouri and Southern Kansas, taking part in several fights• with the Indians and with the Confederate guerillas and border outlaws, and continuing in service until he was attacked with fever, which rendered him unfit for further duty, so that he Was honorably discharged in 1863, on account of physical disability. He then returned to the parental home in Kutztown, Pa., where he was associated with his father in business for one year. In 1865 he came to Fayette, Ohio, and established himself in the jewelry business, in which he has ever since been engaged, being thus one of the pioneer business men of the town, and he has a well equipped and appointed establishment and commands a representative patronage, doing a general manufacturing and watch-making business, including repair work, and he also has an excellent optical department, having learned this branch of the business under the instruction of his father and baking a specialty of the same. He is an excellent musician, having much talent in the manipulation of brass, reed and stringed instruments and taking much interest in the art. He is a Republican in politics and is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1866 Mr. Benner was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jane. Ely, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., being a daughter of Caleb Ely, who came to Fulton county in the pioneer days, settling in Franklin township, where he became a successful farmer. Both he and his wife are deceased, and their remains are interred in the cemetery at Montpelier, Williams county. Mr. and Mrs. Benner had five children Minnie is the wife of Charles Lewis, of Paulding, Ohio; Cora is the wife of Frank Fish, who is engaged in the clothing business in Fayette; Orilla is the wife of Frank Roberts, 'of North Adams, Mich.; and Zoe remains at the parental home. CHARLES E. BENNETT, M. D., a prominent and highly successful physician of Wauseon, was born in Evansport, Defiance county, of that State, March 1, 1856. He is the son of Dr. J. H. and Triphena R. (Denman) Bennett, both natives of New York State. His grandfather, Joseph Bennett, was a native of Bennington, Vt, whose father, a Scotchman by birth, was a Revolutionary hero from the Green Mountain State. The family came to New England in early Colonial times and became thoroughly identified with the stirring events of the Revolutionary period. The subject of this sketch is also connected with the struggle for American Independence through his paternal grandmother, who was Miss Lucinda Bonney, of French birth, and whose father was a New Jersey soldier in the Continental Army. Dr. J. H. Bennett was born in Genesee county, N. Y., in 1824, and graduated from Starling Medical college of Columbus, 0. In 1849 he located at Evansport for the practice of his profession, and there established an enviable reputation as a skillful physician and surgeon, attaining to a high degree of prominence as a public man. He served as coroner of the BIOGRAPHICAL - 263 county by appointment of the Governor and filled various other professional offices with honor to himself and with satisfaction to his constituents. In October, 1863, Dr. J. H. Bennett moved to Wauseon and for many years maintained high rank in the medical fraternity of Fulton county. He continued in active practice until about ten years before his death, in March, 1904. His wife, who idled at the age of thirty-six, was the daughter of Israel and Elizabeth (Hardenberg) Denman. Israel Denman was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., and from there removed to Defiance county, 0., Axing one of the earliest settlers of Tiffin township, when Toledo was a small trading post on the shore of the lake. He died in Wauseon in 1895, at the ripe age of eighty-seven years. Dr. Charles bE. Bennett is the only member of his family 'living in Fulton county, having lived in Wauseon since his seventh year. He received tit liberal, education in his youth, and at an early age decided upon medicine as his life profession, having been led to this decision by this father's devotion to the profession and his unusual success in it. In 1876 he graduated from the Detroit Medical college and at once engaged in practice at Wauseon, being associated for some years with his father. In a short time he succeeded in establishing a large -Ind lucrative practice, which has continued to grow with passing years. The doctor has also held prominent official positions of a professional nature, being surgeon of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Detroit Southern railway companies for many years. In 1878 he was elected county coroner and re-elected in 1880, thus serving four years in that official capacity. He has always been devoted to his profession and has never sought official honors of a strictly political nature. The tongue of public repute places him safely at the head of the medical profession in Fulton county. Iii keeping abreast Of his high calling he has for many years affiliated with the leading medical societies of the county, State and nation, and surrounded himself with the current literature' of the times. In recent years he has been associated with Dr. Jay H. Miller, a talented and successful physician, whose connection with 'the firm lightens the burden of professional life during the rigors of encroaching. years. Politically Dr. Bennett has always affiliated with the Republican party and has manifested a deep interest in the supremacy` of its principles. Of the social fraternities he is a Mason of exalted rank and high standing in the counsels of this time-honored fraternity; he is also a member of the. Knights of Pythias and has been honored with important positions in connection with each In religious affiliations the family attend the services of the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Bennett is a zealous member. Dr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Celia, the daughter of Joel Brigham, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work. She is also closely related to the late Col. J. H. Brigham, whose life history is an integral part of Fulton county's historical annals. The sketch of this distinguished man also appears elsewhere in this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Bennett have a son and a daughter, the elder of whom is Walter, a student at Howe Military school at 264 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Lima, Ind., and Florence H., a student in the Wauseon public schools. The names of the Doctors Bennett; father and son, have been household words in Wauseon and vicinity for considerably more than forty years, and the good they have rendered to suffering humanity is incalculable. The venerable father traversed the country in the early days, in all kinds of weather, and over almost impassable roads, and who can say that the pioneer physicians endured the hardships and perils of those days for the few paltry dollars which their nightly vigils brought to their pockets? True, that was a consideration, but the relief of human suffering was vastly greater, since many of the early physicians, and Dr. J. H. Bennett among them, often performed this philanthropic service without the thought of remuneration. This was: notably true during the Civil war while the "boys" were at the front and their dependent ones at home. For many years the practice of Dr. J. H. Bennett was bounded only by his powers of endurance, and no other physician in this section of the state was more widely or favorably known. He was the first surgeon appointed for the territory west of Toledo, for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway, and officiated in that capacity during most f the years that he remained in practice. He was well known in high official circles and counted as personal friends some of the Nation's leaders. CHANCEY BERKEBILE, assistant superintendent and foreman of the A. D. Baker Manufacturing company of Swanton, is a native of Spencer township, Lucas county, where he was born on a farm three miles northeast of Swanton, on January 31, 1871. He is the son of Levan J. and Mary (Farner) Berkebile, both natives of Pennsylvania, who settled in Northwestern Ohio in pioneer days. Levan J. Berkebile was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools. He is both farmer and mechanic by occupation. At present he and wife are residents of Swanton. Chancey Berkebile was reared and educated principally in Spencer township. On March 1, 1895, he entered upon an apprenticeship to the machinists' trade with his present employers. As a master iron-worker he has become so proficient, that, notwithstanding his youth, he has been promoted to his present responsible and lucrative position. During the four years he has had charge of the shops the business has grown very rapidly, until it is no longer limited even to the county. His skill as a workman and his ability to direct those under him have been largely instrumental in bringing about this satisfactory state of affairs. Mr. Berkebile is a Republican in politics and holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias organizations. On August 8, 1893, he was wedded to Miss Laura Salsbery, a native of Lucas county and the daughter of William and Alice (Barnes) Salsbery, now residents of Toledo, 0. To these parents there have been born two daughters. Fern was born April 28, 1898, and died April 6, 1899. The younger daughter is Levern, born April 5, 1900. BIOGRAPHICAL - 265 JACOB T. BIDDLE. who was an honored pioneer of Futlon county, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1801, was there reared to manhood, receiving such educational advantage as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. Upon coming to Ohio he first settled in Wayne county, where he maintained his home about a quarter of a century, after which he passed about five years in Knox county and two years in Richland county, whence he came to Fulton county in the year 1855. A few years later he removed to Missouri, in 1869, but in about seven years he returned to Fulton county, where he again establishes his home, but he died soon afterward while visiting his former home in Knox county. He devoted his entire active career to agricultural pursuits, and was especially fond of fine horses, a predilection manifested in the entire family. Mr. Biddle was twice married, first to Mary Hay, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1799, and who died about two years after her marriage, the only child dying in infancy. Mr. Biddle later married Miss Sarah Duncan, who likewise was born and reared in the old Keystone state, and of the eight children of this union the following is a brief record: Rachel is deceased: Joanna is the wife of John Wineland, of Knox county, Ohio; George D. is individually mentioned later on in this article; Jacob is a resident of Goshen, Indiana; Mary Jane is deceased and Andrew died in Missouri; James is a resident of Wauseon, this county, and Daniel of Delta. George D. Biddle, eldest son of Jacob T. and Sarah (Duncan) Biddle, was born in Salt Creek township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 3d of November, 1830, and his educational advantages were limited to the somewhat primitive schools of the pioneer days. His vocation throughout life has been farming, and he has also dealt somewhat extensively in horses. He has been a resident of York township since 1855, and he has occupied his present residence since 1859. He has a well-improved farm of fifth-five acres and is one of the popular citizens of the township, having served two years as township trustee, and his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. In Richland county, Ohio, on the of 13th of October, 1852, Mr. Biddle was united in marriage to the Julia Ann Aungst, whose death occurred March 26, 1895. They became the parents of three children, namely : Samuel A., who is individually mentioned in this work; Stillman, who is a successful farmer of York township; and Nora who is the wife of Edward W. Ruppert, of this township. JAMES M. BIDDLE, a retired farmer of Wauseon, 0., was born in Salt Creek township, Wayne county, 0., on November 20, 1838. He is the son of Jacob and Wayne (Duncan) Biddle, both native of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, also named Jacob Biddle, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., and married Miss Elizabeth Todd. Peter Biddle, the great-grandfather of James M. Biddle, served as a captain in the Maryland militia in the Revolutionary war. The Biddle originally came from Germany, some say from Holland, and called themselves "Bittle." Peter was one of three brothers that can 266 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY America in an early day. Jacob Biddle, the father of James M. Biddle, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa. In 1855 he came to Clinton township, Fulton county, where he bought a farm of Elisha Williams, a pioneer settler of that township. His wife Sarah was born in Beaver county, Pa. The following are the children born to this marriage; Rachel, the wife of Jefferson Worley, of Wayne county; Johanna, the wife of John Wineland of Knox county, 0.; George of York township, Fulton county; Jacob of Goshen, Ind.; Andrew, deceased, who served during the Civil war in the Tenth Ohio cavalry and the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and died in Davis county, Mo.; James M., the subject of this sketch, and Daniel of Delta, Fulton county, who served throughout the Civil war in the Forty-fourth Illinois infantry, with the rank of lieutenant when mustered out of service. James M. Biddle was reared on a farm and educated in the schools of his home township. He enlisted for three years in the Third Ohio cavalry and saw very active service. His regiment was assigned to the army of the Cumberland for a time under the command of Gen. George. H. Thomas, and took an active part in all the battles and campaigns from the autumn of 1861 to the fall of Atlanta, when he was discharged. In 1864 he located on a farm in Clinton township, Fulton county. He then removed to Davies county, Mo., where he farmed for six years and then returned to Clinton township, where he farmed until 1904. Selling his large farm he bought a smaller one and removed to Wauseon, where he is now building a fine residence in which to spend his remaining days in retirement bun active life. In the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic he takes a deep interest. He married Miss Samantha Williams of township, the daughter of Jeremiah and Matilda (Biddle) Mauls. Jeremiah Williams is the son of Elisha and Hannah Harrison) Williams, who settled in this township in 1835. The sketch of Judge Williams, a brother of the wife of the subject of this sketch, is found elsewhere in this work. James M. Biddle and wife have had one child, Anna, the widow of Benjamin F. Rupert of Clinton township. JOHN L. BIDDLE, who was for many years actively engaged in farming and stock-growing in Fulton township, where he still owns his fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres, is now living retired in the village of Delta, being one of the well known and popular citizens of the county. Mr. Biddle was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the 21st of March, 1846, and is a son of George and Nancy (Lawrence) Biddle, the former of whom was born in Bedford county, Pa., March 11, 1808, and the latter of whom was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, January 25, 1813. Their marriage was solemnized in Wayne county, Ohio, July 3, 1832, and there the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1861, when he removed with his family to Fulton county and located on a farm one mile west of Delta in York township. Later they removed to a farm in the western part of the same township, and there George Biddle's BIOGRAPHICAL - 267 death occurred on the 7th of August, 1877. His wife survived him by many years, her death occurring in the village of Delta, on the 21st of August, 1902. Of their children we incorporate a brief record, as follows: Henry, who was born June 4, 1833, died in Wooster, Ohio, though he was at the time a resident of Fulton county. He left a wife and three children. Nancy J., born September 9, 1835, resides in Wayne county, being the widow of Adam Geitgey. Rachel, born December 18, 1837, is the wife of Simon Snyder and they reside in Delta. Benjamin, born April 28, 1840, is engaged in the real estate business in Toledo, Ohio. Jacob, born February 5, 1843, died in Delta, in middle life. John L., of whom this article is more specially written, was the next in order of birth. Samuel, born November 11, 1848, died at the age of two and one-half years. George W., born November 23,851, is a well-known farmer of Clinton township. Mary E., who was born May 23, 1854, became the wife of Alonzo Watkins and after his death 'married George W. Watkins, and they reside in Fulton township. All of the children were born in Wayne county, and there John L. was reared to maturity on the home farm, in the meanwhile duly availing himself of the advantages afforded in the common schools of the locality. His active career has been one of intimate identification with agriculture and allied pursuits, and through his well -directed efforts he has gained a competency, so that he has lived 'retired since 1896, having a pleasant home in Delta, where he and his wife are held in high esteem by all who know them. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Fulton county, in 1861, and a few years later he purchased a farm in Fulton township which he still owns, and there he maintained his residence until his retirement from active labor, as noted. The farm homestead has been well improved under his supervision and personal efforts, having a beautiful resin dence, barn and adjunct buildings, and it is regarded as being one of the model farms of Fulton township. In addition to his attractive residence property in Delta, Mr. Biddle also owns a fine brick business building, on Main street, the same having been erected by him in the summer of 1905. He is a man of liberal and progressive ideas, and is loyal and public-spirited as a citizen. He devotes his attention to the management of his various properties and takes much interest in public affairs of a local nature, and in his political allegiance he has been arrayed with the Democratic party from the time of attaining his majority. Both he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church for the past thirty years, earnest in the support of the same and in its work, and he is now a member of the board of trustees of the church in Delta. September 4, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Biddle to Miss Margaret J. Watkins, daughter of John and Margaret Watkins, who were honored pioneers of Fulton county. Mrs. Biddle was born in Wayne county, Ohio, and was a child at the time of her parents removal to Fulton county. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Biddle the following data are consistently entered: Dora May was born in Fulton county, Q., December 23, 1872, and died August 31, 1878. Nora was 268 - FULTON COUNTY born in Fulton county, 0,, September 15, 1878, and was married to Dr. F. D. B. on August 22, 1904 ; and Gertrude, who was born in Fulton county, O., December 23, 1881 and graduated from the Delta High School in 1899, is now a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Delta. SAMUEL. A. BIDDLE is numbered among progressive farm and dairymen of York transship and is one of the and influential citizens of his community. He was a born in Richland county, Ohio, July 9, 1853,, and is a son of George D and Julia (Aungst) Biddle, who removed to Fulton county when he was two years of me, the father being still resident of York township and the mother being deceased. Samuel A. Biddle was reared on the home farm and duty availed himself of the advantages of the local school, and he has hero identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present tine. At the age of twenty-one years he purchased a farm of forty acres, the same being covered with the native timber. He. cleared and otherwise improve/ this place, which he eventually sold, after which he purchased sixty acres, which he traded in part pay- inert for his present fine farm, comprising 120 acres, all available for cultivation and improved with excellent buildings. On the 14th of February, 1905, his large and attractive residence was destroyed by Ire, and lie has since completed the erection of one of even superior type. Mr. Biddle is a stanch adherent of the Republican party and takes a loyal interest in public affairs of a local nature, being at the present time a member of the school board of his district. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is affiliated with the Wauseon lodge of the Knights of Pythias. September 26, 1880, Mr. Riddle was united in marriage to Miss Iola Kesler, who was born in Fulton county, November 3, 1858, being a daughter of Elias and Sarah (Pontious) Kesler. Mr. and Mrs. have two children, Glenn, born August 19, 1889; and Carl, born December it, 1898. STILLMAN BIDDLE is a representative of one of the old and prominent families of York township, where he is a leading farmer and popular citizen. He was born in Richland county,. Ohio, December 8, 1854, and is a son of George D. and Julia A. (Aungst) Biddle, of whom detailed mention is made in the memoir of Jacob T. Biddle, appearing within these pages. StiIlman Biddle was about one year of age at the time of his parents' removal to Fulton county, and he, was reared to maturity on the homestead farm, in York township, where his father still resides, and his educational advantages were those of the public schools of said township. He has made farming and stock-growing his vocation in life and has been successful in his operations, and he has at all times commanded the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community. He purchased his present finely unproved homestead farm in 1893, and the same comprises eighty acres of fertile and exceptionally productive land. In politics Mr. , Riddle exercises his franchise and influence in the furtherance of the BIOGRAPHICAL - 269 cause of the Independent party, and he served three years as township trustee, and five years as a member of the board of education, showing a loyal interest in all that touches the general welfare of the community. On the 3d of January, 1883, Mr. Biddle was united in marriage to Miss Almira Highshew, who was born in York township, this county, on the 6th of December, 1859, being a daughter of Enoch and Verlinda (Barnes) Highshew. Her father was a native of New England and came to Fulton county in 1.85o, locating on a farm in York township, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1861, as the result of his falling from a building. His wife was born in Pennsylvania, where their marriage was solemnized, and she died on the 6th of November, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle are the parents of nine children, whose names, in order of birth, are as follows: Harrison S., Zolah, Nora, Mabel, Gladys, Walter T., Ralph, Georgia, and Alfred T. WILLIAM L. BIDDLE, who is one of the prosperous and popular farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township, was born in York township, this county, on the 12th of February, 1865, and is a ton of Stillman C. and Mary (Mack) Biddle, the former of whom was born in Holmes county, Ohio, June 20, 1834, and the latter who arm born in Perrysburg, Wood county, February 17, 1840; died October 20, 1903. The father still resides on the old homestead, in York township. Of the two children William L. is the elder. His sister Miss Addie E., remains with her father on the home farm and has had charge of the household affairs since the death of her loved mother. William L. Biddle availed himself of the advantages of the public schools at Delta and later was a student in the Business and Musica college at Fayette, Ohio. As a young man he did efficient work as a teacher in the district schools of his native county, and ever since that time he has been actively and prominently Concerned with the agricultural industry. The present farm of Mr. Biddle comprises one hundred and forty-seven acres and is one of the finest rural estates in the county, having the most substantial improvements and being maintained under a high state of cultivation: He gives special attended to the raising of road horses, in which line he has a number of fits standard-bred animals, breeding from the best grades. He is also en gaged extensively in the dairying business, supplying milk to the cheese factory at Ai. Mr. Biddle is an appreciative member of the time honored Masonic fraternity, being affiliated with Swanton Lodge, No 555, Free and Accepted Masons, Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 54 Royal Arch Masons, at Delta, and Wauseon Council, No. 68, Roya and Select Masons. He also holds membership in Berry Grange, Nc 1111, and in the Swanton lodge of the Knights of Pythias. In politic he is one of the leaders in the local ranks of the Democratic party. H is at present deputy state supervisor of elections for the county, ha served two terms as township trustee and was formerly president o the school board of Fulton township. August 27, 1890, Mr. Biddl was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Merrill, daughter of Ozias an Jane (Vaughan) Merrill, and a sister of Frank C. Merrill, who is in- 270 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY dividually mentioned elsewhere in this work, the article in question giving further data regarding the family. Her maternal grandfather, Alexander Vaughan, came to Fulton township in 1835, and here his death occurred in 1847. The present residence of Mr. and Mrs. Biddle was erected by the tatter's father, in 1870, being a handsome brick structure located on a commanding eminence on the eastern edge of the. village of Ai, and this farm was the birthplace of Mrs. Biddle. The place came into the possession of Mr. and Mrs. Biddle partly through inheritance and partly through purchase. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle became the parents of five children. Merrill died at the age of three -years, having been the eldest, and the youngest, Robert, died at the age of ten months. The living children are Meredyth, Clark 0. and Rachel. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. SYLVESTER PARKER BISHOP, M. D., a distinguished physician and surgeon of Delta, is a native of Licking county, Ohio, where lie was born December 3, 1839. He is the. son of Zebina and Pluma (Myrick) Bishop, both natives of Canada, where they were married and whence they emigrated to Licking county early in married life. In 1856 they removed to Williams county and there ended their days, he dying at the age of eighty-three and she at eighty years. Zebina Bishop, who was a mechanic by occupation, and wife were the parents of seven children, three sons and, four daughters. Their names follow: Edwin, who died in infancy ; Ellen, the wife of B. A. Clark, of Bryan; Julia, who married Henry Barnes and died in Granville, 0.; Sylvester Parker; Estella, now Mrs. Jonas McCoy, of Pulaski, 0.; Caroline, now Mrs. Amos Lorah, of Hicksville, and Edwin P., a farmer, of Bryan. Sylvester Parker Bishop received his elementary education in the public schools of Bryan, began his professional studies at the medical department of the University of Michigan, and took his degree at Bellevue Hospital college in New York City, graduating in 1865. He located at Delta in the spring of 1864, and here has been in continuous practice since that time. He is an active member of the Fulton County Medical Society, of the State, Tri-State, Northwestern and American Medical Associations, being prominent in each. In 1881 he served as delegate to the International Congress of Physicians and Surgeons in London and again at Washington in 1887. For seven years he served in the capacity of Surgeon of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company. In the affairs of the Masonic fraternity Dr. Bishop takes a very active part, holding membership in the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council and Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, having taken all of these degrees in 1881; is a member of the A. A. Scottish Rites at Toledo, Valley of Cleveland, and Lake Erie Consistory, and is now a charter member of Toledo Consistory S. P. R. S., Thirty-second degree. In politics he is identified with the Republican party and in religious matters with the Methodist Episcopal church. On February 1, 1866, at Bryan, the Doctor was married to Miss Florence Dobbs, a daughter of Judge Joshua Dobbs. Four children have been born to these parents, three of whom are still BIOGRAPHICAL - 271 living. They are: Eudora, supervising principal of Drawing and Art in the Fostoria, 0., city schools; Opal, the wife of C. P. Geer, of Delta , Parker Selwyn, a graduate of the Detroit College of Medicine of the class of 1901, and now associated in the practice of medicine with his father. FRANK G. BLACKMAN, a photographer of Wauseon, was born in Adrian, Lenawee county, Mich. He is the son of Demon and Jane (Shepard) Blackman, the former of Michigan and the latter of Connecticut. Demon Blackman was born in Adrian, where he was reared and educated. He was for years engaged in the mercantile business! fin his home city. His father came from Connecticut to Ohio in an early day. The subject of this sketch was only a babe when his father died. Demon Blackman and wife had a family of six children, three boys and three girls. They are L. M. Blackman of Knoxville, Tenn. who was colonel of the Fourth Tennessee cavalry during the Civil war having been promoted to that rank for his bravery in escaping the Confederates at the risk of his life, and who at the breaking out of the war was a state legislator ; W. D. Blackman of Napoleon, 0., gauger it the United States internal revenue service, who prior to coming to Na poleon had served in the same capacity for twenty-five years at Toledo; Frank G. Blackman, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mary E Murray of Wisconsin; Mrs. Electa Shaw, and Mrs. Emma Cass, ; Widow, of Adrian. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his native city and learned the business of photographer of his brother, W. D. Blackman of Napoleon, who from 1862 to 1865 conducted a gallery in Wauseon. After having thoroughly learned the business he came to Wauseon and started a gallery there where he now enjoys an extensive as well as a lucrative business From an humble beginning his business has spread out over Fulton county; as well as the adjoining counties. Mr. Blackman has the reputation of doing strictly first-class work, and his numerous patron: throughout that part of the State recognize in him a first-class artist He is identified with the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias having passed all the chairs in both organizations. Mr. Blackman has, devoted much of his time to field work, instituting lodges all ove the State, a work in which he has met with remarkable success. Fey men have made a stronger record in lodge work than he. It seem: that everything that he has undertaken has prospered. It is needles: to state that he never permitted his lodge work to interfere with hi professional work. With the enthusiasm, energy and push that hi possesses, one must succeed. The subject of this sketch married Mis Mary Woodward, daughter of Jason Woodward of Henry county, 0, where the father followed the occupation of fanning. Mr. and Mrs Blackman are members of the Methodist Church, North, and take as active part in all branches of church work. They have three children one son and two daughters. The children are Dr. Wave Blackman June and Ruth, the latter two being still at home. 272 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY FRANK T. BLAIR, a farmer and gravel contractor of Wauseon, was born near Rileysville, Wayne county, Pa. He is the son of James and Sarah (Smith) Blair, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Ireland. His grandparents were Brice and Margaret Blair, the former of whom died in Scotland in 1816. James Blair was born in Scotland in 181o. Immigrating to America he first landed at New York, where he found employment as superintendent of Section No. 92, of the Croton aqueduct, then in process of construction. While engaged in this work he was so unfortunate as to lose a leg. In 1846 he married Miss Sarah Smith, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Thompson) Smith, who was born in Philadelphia in 1821. In 1870 he came to Wauseon, 0., and bought a farm in Clinton township, Fulton county, Which he cultivated until seven years previous to his death, in 1898. Nis wife lost two brothers, Samuel and James Smith, while serving in the Union army, the former having lost his Life at the battle of Fair Oaks and the latter having died of wounds received in battle. To this marriage the following children were born : Robert S., of Dover township, Fulton county ; Frank T., the subject of this sketch; Crawford, the proprietor of the Blair House, Wauseon ; Sarah J., the widow of Luther Orndorm ; Samuel T., of Rose City, Mich.; Margaret A. ; Wells C., of Emporium, Pa.; Col. Ellsworth (deceased) ; Jessie F.; Mary E.; and Lizzie R. Frank T. Blair was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of his home township. He came to Wauseon from Sheffield, now Barnes, Warren county, Pa., in 1871, where he had been engaged in the lumber business for seven years. While living at Barnes he married Miss Rose Barnes, a descendant of one of whom the town derived its name. In the same year he bought a farm of two hundred acres in York township, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. Upon this land he at once erected a substantial dwelling, a large barn and other necessary buildings. In 1883 he was elected sheriff of Fulton county, and conducted the office so successfully that two years later he was re-elected by an increased majority. During his two administrations the affairs of the county were carefully looked after, and the result was that law and order prevailed throughout the county. Mr. Blair certainly has just cause to be proud of his official record. At the expiration of his second term the Fulton county bar and friends presented him with a gold-headed cane, on the head of which was inscribed, "Presented to Frank T. Blair as a token of his fidelity and efficiency in office." His wife was the daughter of Erastus Barnes, a native of Yates county, N. Y., who was a pioneer settler of Warren county, Pa. He was quite prominent in county and township affairs, having held the office of county commissioner several terms, also that of justice of the peace and other township offices. In the !umber and general merchandise business he was quite successful and was the owner of the largest saw and grist mill in the county. He died in 1894, aged eighty-four years. Timothy Barnes, his father, was born in Yates county, and his son, Timothy Barnes, was treasurer of Warren county, Pa., two terms. He died in 1881. The ancestors of this family came from Connecticut, and took an active part in the Revolutionary war. The mother-in-law of the subject of this sketch is BIOGRAPHICAL - 273 Eliza (Eddy) Barnes, a native of Warren county, Pa., and the daughter of Zachariah and Rose (Stewart) Eddy, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Ireland. Henry H. Ham, a prominent attorney of Fulton county, married a sister of Mrs. F. T. Blair. The Children of Frank T. Blair and wife are : Eddy, of Wauseon, and Ernest Frank, a commission merchant of New York City. EUGENE BLAKE, a retired merchant of Wauseon, has been identified with the public affairs of Fulton county for nearly a half-century. He came to Fulton county with his father in 1856, when Wauseon w title terminus of the Lake Shore railway and when the present site of the city was still nearly all in the woods. His grandfather, Richard Blab was one of the pioneers of Swan Creek township, Fulton county, having come to Ohio from New York in a very early day. Lawren Blake, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Alleghany county, New York, in 1811, where he grew to manhood. When he came to Ohio he settled in Erie county and from there he removed Fulton county, locating on a farm in Fulton township, where he spe the remainder of his life. His wife was the daughter of James Manning, a pioneer of Swan Creek township, who afterwards removed to point farther west. Lawrence Blake and wife lived a happy married life of more than sixty years. He died in 1901 at the ripe age of nine years. Eugene Blake was reared on a farm and received a rudimetary education in the public schools of his county. At the age of twenty-three he came to Wauseon and began his remarkably successful business career. For some time he clerked in the general store of Brigham & Springer. As a salesman he displayed such marked ability that his employers gave him an interest in the business, the name of the new firm being Brigham, Springer & Co. That no mistake was made in his elevation to a partnership in the concern is evidenced by the fact that the business grew in volume as long as he was connected with it. For sixteen consecutive years he filled with great credit to himself and profit to the city the office of mayor of Wauseon. He was equally interest in township affairs, and served as trustee for nine years. He is one the oldest Masons in the county, having filled the chair of senior warder on the occasion of the institution of the first lodge. He married Miss Sarah Scott of Wauseon, a member of one of the most prominent families of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Blake have one child, Scott Blake who graduated from the Cincinnati School of Dental Surgery with I class of 1905, and is now located in his profession at Wauseon. The subject of this sketch certainly has the right to rest from the burdens of active life after having worked so long and so hard, not only to build up a fortune for himself but also to assist in the development of Wauseon and Fulton county. WESLEY A. BLAKE is. one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of Fulton county, being the owner of a well improved landed estate in Clinton township, and being a member of a fan whose name has long been identified with the annals of the Buckeye State. The founder of the family in Ohio, and in Fulton county, was 274 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO Orrin Blake, father of the subject of this sketch. Orrin Blake was born in historic old Litchfield, Coon., in the year 1802, Wing of stanch English lineage, while the original progenitors in the new world tattle over with the Pilgrim Fathers, in 1620. Orrin Blake was reared to manhood his native State, receiving a common-school education and adopted farming as his vocation. Upon reaching maturity he came to Ohio, which was then considered on the veritable frontier, and he located in Brimfiels township, Portage county, where he devoted his attention  to farming for about a decade, after which he removed to Medina may, becoming one of the pioneers of that section, where he took up a considerable body of wild land, reclaiming a portion of the same to cultivation. For several years during his residence in that county he devoted special attention to the tanning of hides and the manufacturing of gloves and mittens, for which he found a ready demand throughout the various pioneer counties, through which he traveled Somewhat extensively. in 1858 he came to Fulton county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 27, Clinton township, where he maintained his home for a number of years, passing the closing days of his long and signally useful and honorable life in Hardin county. In Litchfield, Conn., Orrin Blake was united in marriage to Ibis Caroline Thomas, who was born and reared in that place, and who died in 1846 at Litchfield, Medina county, Ohio. Following is a brief record concerning their six children: Jane is the widow of Lowrane L. Svercool, and resides in Medina, Ohio; Jeanette is the widow Justin Allis, of Kansas; Nancy is the wife of Harrison Swell, of Franklin township, Fulton county;. Angelo W. resides in West Unity, Williams county ; May is the wife of Daniel Gray, of Fostoria, Seneca County and Wesley A. is the immediate subject of this sketch, Wesley A. Brake was born in Chatham, Medina county, Ohio, on the 28th of December, 1841, and was reared to manhood in that county, attending the common schools and also a select school in Chatham, and thereafter War he continued his studies one year in Oberlin College of Oberlin this State. In his native town he served an apprenticeship at the trade of harness making, becoming a thonoughly led workman, and he followed his trade as a vocation for six years in Wauseon, having come to Felton county with, his father. His health filially became much impaired through the close and sedentary work,. and he then, turned his attention to, the work of the homestead farm, just west of the teem, where he has ever since lived and been successfully engaged in farming and stock growing, having become the owner of the property in 1861. He is giving special attention to the breeding of fine horses, giving preference to the heavy Clydesdale type of draft horses, and in. this connection he has gained a reputation that far transcends local limitations. His farm comprises 120 acres, and a more eligible location could not be asked, the fine improvements which he has made on the place bringing it into, prominence as one of the model farms of the county. In politics he accords allegiance to the Republican,. party, and both he and his wife are attendants and supporters of the. Methodist Episcopal church, im Wauseon. Mr. Blake is a charter member of the lodge, chapter and council of the Masonic fraternity as represented. in Wauseon, BIOGRAPHICAL - 275 as well as of the local chapter of the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, and since 1873 he has been a member of Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar. He is also a charter member of the Grange of Wauseon. In 1863 Mr. Blake was united in marriage to Miss Hester Ann Newcomer, daughter of John Newcomer, a pioneer citizen of Fulton county, as is evident when it is stated that Mrs. Blake was the first white child born in what is now the thriving little city of :Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. Blake have four children : George W. resides in Hudson, Mich.; Charles A. is associated in the operation of the home farm ; Cora May is the wife of Rev. D. F. Helms, a clergyman of the M. E. Church, and now a resident of Hicksville, Ohio; and Bertha N. is the wife of Charles H. Hodges, of Wauseon. HENRY BLUBAUGH, one of the prosperous and representative farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township, was born in this township, on the 7th of June, 1847, and is a son of Elijah and Sarah (Schrock) Blubaugh, both of whom were born in Somerset county, Pa., German lineage, and they were numbered among the earliest pioneer settlers of Fulton county. Here the father took up a tract of government land, near Luke's Corners, Fulton township, and he initiated the work of reclaiming his land from the forest wilds, but died in the very prime of his active manhood, in 1857, at which time he was thirty-three years of age. His widow subsequently became the wife of Charles ; Mason, of Lucas county, and they remained on the old homestead until the death of Mr. Mason, when his widow went to the home of her son ::Samuel, in Toledo, where she passed the remainder of her life, having been seventy-two years of age at the time' of her demise. Of the six children of Elijah and Sarah Blubaugh, Henry was the first born ; Mary is the wife of Joseph Griesinger, of Fulton township; Samuel, a retired farmer, resides in the city of Toledo; Drusilla died at Pettisville, Fulton county, having been the wife of Haman Bulger; the fifth child, a son, died in infancy, unnamed ; and Melvina is the wife of George Dennis, of York township. As Henry Blubaugh was the eldest of the children, being a lad of ten years at the time of his father's death, much of the burden involved in providing for the family and securing the improvement of the home farm devolved upon him. As a boy he went out to work at a shilling a day in order to repay men for cultivating the land of the home farm—work which he was not able to perform—and he carried bundles of grain after three cradlers, when all harvesting was done in this way, for the princely stipend of ten cents a day. Thus it may be seen that his early life was fraught with strenuous discipline and arduous toil, and self-denial was his portion in all relations of life in that period, his school privileges being limited to an irregular attendance in the school at Luke's Corners. He early manifested a marked predilection for mechanical pursuits, in which line he possesses much natural ability. As a young man he learned the carpenter's trade, to which he devoted his attention for several years, and he erected the house and barn on his present farm, where he has lived for many years. For several years he gave more or less attention to market gardening, but his principal vocation during his active career has been that of 276 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY farming and stock-growing, through which important lines of industry he has a well merited success and prosperity. He has resided On his present homestead for thirty years, having at first rented the same from his father-in-law, John Farner, after whose death, with consequent settlement of the estate, he purchased the interests of the her heirs and came into the absolute ownership of the fine farm, in conjunction with his faithful wife, who has been a true helpmeet. The farm comprises eighty-one acres, and Mr. Blubaugh has been its owner since 1890. Under his direction prior to and since that time noteworthy improvements have been made on the place, a considerable amount of the land having been reclaimed from the native forest, and that which had been under cultivation has been cleared of stumps and brush, and everything about the farm placed in good repair, making it one of the Model places of the township. In addition to diversified agriculture, Mt. Blubaugh has been specially successful in the raising of high-grade cattle and swine, and he is essentially progressive in his attitude. In national and State affairs he has always given a stanch suport to the Republican party, but in a local way he supports men and measures rathtr than adhering to strict partisan lines. Mr. Blubaugh has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for a quarter of a century, and has been identified with the Encampment of the order for fifteen years, at Delta. He is past noble grand of Swanton Lodge, No. 528, and has also taken the degrees of the grand lodge, taking a very active interest in the affairs of this well known and beneficent fraternal organization. Mrs. Blubaugh is identified with the adjunct organization, the pang, Daughters of Rebekah, as is also the wife of her son. The family home Is a Most attractive one and its conveniences and beauties have been materially-enhanced through the handicraft of Mr. Blubaugh and his son, both of whom have much mechanical ability. January. 16, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blubaugh to Miss Elmira Farner, a daughter of John and Catherine (Rhodes) Farner, who were born in Pennsylvania, whence they came to Ohio, settling in Fulton county in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Blubaugh became the parents of four children, and two of the sons are deceased--John Edward, who died at the age of eight years, and Oma, who died at the age of fourteen months. Harvey E. lives on the home farm and is associated with his father in its work and management. He is a member of the lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias at Swanton, and in politics he is a stanch Republican. He married Miss Margaret Reyes, a member of the old and well known pioneer family of that name. Orrie Elva is residing at the paternal home. CHARLES FREDERICK BOGART, a prominent real estate dealer and loan agent of Wauseon, was born in Spencer, Tioga county, N. Y., in 1843. He is the son of Isaiah and Roxea (Handy) Bogart, both natives of Ohio. After the close of the Civil war Isaiah Bogart settled in Wauseon, where he died April 6th, 1898, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife was a sister of Hon. Michael Handy, during life a prominent attorney-at-law of this city. Francis Bogart, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, resided in Danby, Tompkins county, BIOGRAPHICAL - 277 N. Y., where he followed the occupation of farming. The maiden name of his wife was Martha Manning. His great-grandfather Bogart resided in Dutchess and Tompkins counties, N. Y. Charles F. Bogart was educated in the public schools of his native county. At the breaking out of the Civil war he, his father and his twin brother enlisted in the One Hundred and Ninth New York regiment, all three being in the same company. Their regiment was commanded by Col. B. F. Tracy, afterwards Secretary of the Navy, and was a part of the Ninth army corps, commanded by General Burnside. This regiment took an active part in most of the battles after the Wilderness campaign. The father and his twin sons served three years, and all returned without having received an injury. In 1866 Charles and his twin brother, Frederick Charles, attended the Bryant & Stratton commercial college of Toledo, 0., where both fitted themselves for an active business life. After graduating from thia school they settled in Wauseon, where they for several years were engaged in the marble business, being the first to start such an enterprise there. From Wauseon they removed to Kansas, where for eight years they were engaged in sheep-raising. Selling their sheep ranch, they removed to California, where Charles F. remained for two years. In 1889 he returned to Wauseon, where he is now actively engaged in the real estate and loan business. For the past fifteen years he has handled-the money of an Eastern capitalist as loan agent, doing a business of more than two hundred thousand dollars annually, this amount being left in his care for reinvesting. He has operated in Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Williams and Defiance. counties. He has displayed such good judgment in placing his loans that he enjoys the full confidence of the capitalist whom he represents. So complete is this confidence that all deeds and abstracts of title to lands on which loans have been made are entrusted to his keeping. Of course this confidence is due to his extraordinary success in all of his business transactions, For two years he served on the council of the city of his abode. That he has prospered in his business is demonstrated by the fact that he with his father and brother erected a fine brick business block on Main street called the Bogart block, which he now owns, and which, by the way, one of the finest in Wauseon. Having served his country so patriotically, it follows that he takes an active interest in the Grand Army co the Republic. He and his twin brother own large tracts of land in the oil fields of Texas, where his brother, Frederick Charles, is now residing, and attending to that part of their business. For some years hod were interested in a telephone company in Houston, Texas, of which Frederick Charles was vice president and treasurer. Before going to Texas and California Frederick Charles was a resident of Wauseon The Bogart family were originally Holland Dutch, the original name being Vande-Bogart. The two' boys, Charles Frederick and Frederic] Charles, were promoted from privates to corporals for soldierly con duct in the field. NELSON E. BOLLAS, a pioneer of the livery and sales stable business of Delta, was born in Royalton township, Cuyahoga county, 0., November 6, 1839. He is the son of Gurdon and Harriet (Paull). 278 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Bolles, the former a native of Connecticut, of English descent, and the latter of Pennsylvania, of German descent. Gurdon Bolles was a farmer by occupation and in an early day removed to Summit county from Cuyahoga county. After retiring from active labor he lived for a. time with his eldest son in Ashland county, 0. , Later he removed to Oberlin, O., where he died in July, 1865. He was thrice married, the mother of Nelson E Bolles being his second wife, who died when Nelson was only eight years old. They were the parents of three sons : Nelson E., the eldest; Avillo, who died at Ada, 0., from the effects of abilities incurred in the Civil war; Julius D., a druggist of Bowling Green, Wood county, who also served as a Union soldier. The third wife of Gordon Bolles was Catherine Spooner, who survived him about twelve years. They had three children, only one of whom is living, Emma Davis of Lenawee, Mich. Nelson E. Bolles remained in his native county until he was twelve years old, when the family home was transferred to Summit county, he receiving his education in these two counties. He began his life work as a farmer, hauling his grain princpally to Akron. In March, 1865, he removed to Fulton county, mowing for two years in the hotel business. Then he embarked in the present business, which he has conducted very successfully for nearly forty years. For the same length of time he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, having been made a master mason in Richfield, Summit county, and demitted to Fulton Lodge, No. 248, thirty-nine Pears ago, He received the Chapter degrees, at Wauseon, is a charter member of Octavius Waters Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and has been a member of Delta Lodge No 460, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, since its organization in 1870. At present he is a member of Fulton Encampment, No. 197, being Past Chief Patriarch and past representative of the grand lodge and the grand encampment. For twenty-three years he has served as scribe of the encampment and has just been redacted for another year. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican, having served for twenty-three years as constable of York township in which Delta is located. The official record of Mr. Bolles, both in lodges and in civil offices, is probably the equal of that of any other roam in Fulton county. In 1859, in Akron, he was wedded to Miss Martha A. Fauble, born in Richfield, Summit county, in 1842. They had three children: Samuel E., a traveling salesman, with head-- garters in New York City, where he resides with his wife and one eight; Marion F.., a druggist of Stryker, .0., a soldier in the late Spanish American war, who is married and has one child, Vaughn E. Bolles, and Dora. C., a stenographer by occupation, and at present employed in Delta. JACOB BONNELL, a retired farmer of Wauseon, was born near the jersey shore in Lycoming county, Pa., in 1837. He is the son of William and Anna Margaret (Beugter) Bonnell, both natives of Pennsylvania. His grandfather was John Bonnell, who married Miss Catherine N. Miller. His great-grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, serving on the Colonial side. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, George Buyter, was a field officer in the BIOGRAPHICAL - 279 German army at the time of the Napoleonic wars. William Bonnell was born in Lycoming county, Pa. He came to Seneca county, 0., in 1839, where he bought timbered land, and, after having cleared it, erected a comfortable house on the ground. Always taking an active part in public affairs, he served both as justice of the peace and trustee of Pleasant township, Seneca county. No other farmer in that community was more successful and more highly respected than he. His wife was born in Philadelphia, and with her parents removed to Tioga county, Pa. Both died on the home farm. The children of William Bonnell and wife are as follows : Ann ; John, of Seneca county, who Served as a member of the One Hundred and First Ohio volunteer infantry in the Civil war; Jacob, the subject of this sketch; Margaret, the wife of Daniel Callow, of Seneca county; Richard (deceased), who enlisted in the One Hundred and First Ohio volunteer infantry and died at Nashville, Tenn.; James, of Fulton county, Ind., who served during the Civil war in the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth ,Ohio infantry, and Alfred, of Seneca county. Jacob Bonnell, the sub-subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of his home county. He chose farming as his life's work, having found it very agreeable while growing up on his father's farm. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio infantry and served four months in the army of the Potomac under General Augur. He married Miss Sarah Ann Norris, the daughter of Lott and Lorranor (Todd) Norris, natives of Frederick county, Md., who entered land in Seneca county in an early day. Lott , Norris took an active part in local affairs, having held practically all ..of the township offices. His parents were Thomas and Susan Norris. The following are the children of Jacob Bonnell and wife: Ulysses Grant of Clinton township; Margaret Estella, the wife of Herbert L. Whiteman, of Liberty township, Henry county, and Herbert Roscoe, of York township, Fulton county. The children of Lott Norris and wife are: William Henry, of Tiffin, 0., who served during the Civil war in the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio infantry ; Ephraim, of Adams township, Seneca county; Mary (deceased), who was the wife of Peter Vandeveer, of Scipio township, Seneca. county; John T., of Tiffin; Sarah, the wife of the subject of this sketch; Charles (deceased), who enlisted in the One Hundred and First Ohio infantry and died in Louisville, Ky., while in service ; Susan, the wife of Peter J. Vandeveer, of Scipio township, Seneca county, and Emma, the wife of Alfred Bonnell, a brother of Jacob Bonnell, of Pleasant township, Seneca county. JAMES J. BORN, a progressive farmer and popular citizen of Fulton township, was born on the farm which is now his home, on the 9th of March, 1855, and is a son of David and Margaret (Kline) Born. David Born was born in Berks county, Pa., in 1815, and as a young man he came to Ohio and located in Tuscarawas county. He was a millwright and wagon-maker, and operated a wagon shop in Trenton, that county, until November 10, 1853, when he came to Fulton county and located on the farm now owned by his son, James J., subject of this 280 - HISTORY OF PULTON COUNTY sketch.. He purchased forty acres, for a consideration of four hundred dollars, and at the same time paid one hundred dollars for one acres adjoining, this investment' having been made by reason of the fact that a log house had been already erected on the plat. This cabin he desired to prevent near neighbors and to use as a wagon shop. He was an excellent mechanic and erected ninny houses and barns in this section in the earlier years. He was successful as a money-maker, but lost heavily through his going security for his friends, some of whom were unfortunate, while others took deliberate advantage of his kindness, He later purchased adjoining land, making the aggregate area of his farm eighty-one acres, and practically the entire tract was reclaimed from the forest by him and his sons. He died June 4, 1894, secured in the high regard of all who knew him. He was associated with Wells Watkins in the organization of the first Sunday school in Fulton township, Mr. Watkins being still resident of the township. David Born was one of those concerned in the organization of Fulton may, and he served many years in township office, having been trustee Patton township during the Civil war and later. He had been previously married as had also his wife. By his first union four children were born, two attaining maturity. Albert met his death while serving as a soldier in the Civil war, and Priscilla is the wife of John of Tuscarawas county. The first husband of Margaret (Koine) Born was Samuel Cogan, and they had four children, namely : William H.., who died as a result of a wound received while he was serving in the Civil war; John is a resident of Toledo; Julia A. the wife of Richard M. Watkins, of Delta, this county; and Mary is the widow of 0. W. Parish, of Ontario, Ind. David and Margaret Born became the parents of five children: David Franklin died in Delta, May 6, 1895 ; Hannah Joan is the wife of A. S. VanNortwiek, and they reside in Tennessee; Jacob Sylvester died in early manhood; James J: in the immediate subject of this sketch; and Ella died at the age of seven years. The loved mother was summoned into eternal rest on the 13th of May, 1893. James J. Born was reared on the home farm, and is indebted to the district school for his educational discipline in his youth. He assisted in the work of the farm as a young man, and for a period of about six years was engaged as a traveling salesman, selling a washing machine which had been invented and patented by his father and brother, who, manufactured the same. He did a fine business in the placing of these machines, and he still handles the same, though no longer giving active attention to the manufacture and sale of the article. In 1895 he purchased the old homestead farm, and he has since devoted himself to its operation, being one of the energetic and enterprising farmers of the township, while for the past two years he has given considerable attention to the raising of sugar beets, finding the branch of his farm enterprise profitable. In politics he is a stanch Republican, taking a loyal interest in public affairs but never seeking official preferment. He was for a number of years a member of the township school board, and has been a strong advocate of the centralization of the school interests of the township. He was for many years secretary of the Union church Sunday school and is active in BIOGRAPHICAL - 281 church work at the present time, both he and his wife holding membership, in the Methodist Episcopal church. He is affiliated with Delta Lodge, No. 199, Knights of Pythias, and with its adjunct organization, the Rathbone Sisters, of which Mrs. Born also is a member, and both “are identified with Berry Grange, No. 1111, in which he has held office. December 29, 1881, Mr. Born married Miss Lavina Saeger, who was 'born and reared in Fulton township, being a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Nobbs) Saeger, well-known residents of the county. Mr. Saeger was born in Pennsylvania, of stanch German ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Born have two children: Grace, who was born January 28, 1883, is the wife of Minor Smith, a farmer of Fulton township; and , Charles, who was born July 9, 1888, is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm. NOAH W. BOWSER, whose attractive homestead farm is located about three miles south of the village of Fayette, in Franklin township, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this part of the county. He was born on the home farm, in Section 32, this township, on the 19th of February, 1852, and is a son of Noah and Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser, the former of whom was born on that same farm, where he passed his entire life, having died sit the age of twenty-two years and three months, a short time before his only child, subject of this review, was born. Noah Bowser was a son of John Bowser, who was born in Germany, and who became one of the verly early settlers of Fulton county, taking up a tract of wild land and developing the farm upon which his son and grandson were born, as just noted. He there passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits, and he was also a licensed preacher in the Christian Brethren church, being zealous in the work. His remains lie at rest in the Spring Hill cemetery, as do also those of the other deceased members of this well-known family. Of the eight children of Rev. John Bowser none are living& Noah having been the young'est. Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser was born in the eastern part of this State, being a daughter of Daniel Zimmerman, a native of Hessen, Germany, whence he came to America when a child, his father having been one of the Hessian soldiers employed by the British government to aid in suppressing the American Revolution; but after learning the nature of the cause for which he had come to wage war, he soon deserted from the English ranks and became a valiant soldier in the Continental line. After the war he established a permanent home in the country in the winning of whose independence he had assisted. Daniel Zimmerman was a shoemaker by trade, but devoted the greater part of his active life to farming, and after the death of his wife he came to Fulton county, where he passed his declining days. After the death of her youthful husband Mrs. Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser became the wife of Solomon Snyder, and after residing about six years in Defiance county they came to Franklin township once more, here making their home until about 1877, when they removed to Metz, Steuben county, Ind., where Mr. Snyder died a few years ago and where his widow still has her home, being sev- 282 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY enty-seven years of age (1905). Of the three children of her second marriage two are living—Alston C., a resident of Huntington, Ind.; ands Sarah M. the wife of James Porter, of Metz, Ind. Noah W. ,Bowser secured his early educational training in the common schools of Franklin township, later attending the public schools of Wauseon and the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. He thereafter was engaged in farming on the old homestead for five years, after which he traded farms with his mother, being thereafter engaged in operating the farm at Spring Hill about three years. In the spring of 1884 he went to Metz, Ind., where he was engaged in the hardware business about three years, after which he purchased a farm in Williams county, Ohio, near West Unity, remaining on that place until 1900, when he disposed of the property and purchased his present farm, of eighty acres, in Section 5, Franklin township, where he is engaged in successful farming and stock-raising. In politics Mr. Bowser is a stanch Republican, has maintained a lively interest in the party cause, and he has been a frequent delegate to the county conventions. He has served as township trustee and treasurer, and is loyal and public-spirited in his attitude. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Fayette lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. October 19, 1874, Mr. Bowser married Miss Amanda Gortner, of Franklin township, and she died in 1878. On the 22d of April, 188o, he married Miss Ada Kump, daughter of Levi Kump, an early settler of Franklin township, where he died September 17, 1904, aged seventy- five years. Mr. Bowser has five children: Earl L. is a student in the Ohio State University, in Columbus, and the other children remain at the parental home, namely: Frank L., Eunice D., Stanley N. and Clarence D. SCHUYLE.R BRADLEY is another of the sterling citizens of Fulton county who have gained a competency through active association with the agricultural industry, and he is now enjoying the dignified retirement from active toil which is the just recompense for his many years of persistent application. He has a pleasant home in the village of Lyons, where he has resided since 1893, and he is further worthy of recognition in this work by reason of being a veteran of the Civil war. Mr. Bradley was born at Summerhill, Cayuga county, N. Y., November 12, 1833, a son of Delos D. and Polly (Sanford) Bradley, both of whom were born in that same county. The paternal grandfather, Micah Bradley, was born in Connecticut, a scion of stanch Puritan stock, and was an active participant in the War of 1812, and the latter's father rendered service as a Continental soldier in the War of the Revolution. Micah Bradley was numbered among the pioneers of Cayuga county, N. Y., where he reclaimed a farm from the wilderness, residing on the place until he was sixty years of age, after which he passed twenty years in Groton, Tompkins county, N. Y., then returning to Cayuga county and passing the remainder of his life in the village of Scipio, where he died at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. The maiden name of his wife was Susanna Bennett. The maternal grand- BIOGRAPHICAL - 283 father of. the subject of this Sketch was Isaac Sanford, who was born in Herkiiner county, N. Y., and became a pioneer of Cayuga county, that State, where he died. In 1857 Delos D. and Polly (Sanford) Bradley settled in Waupaca county, Wis., being pioneers of that locality, where he reclaimed a farm in the midst of the virgin forest. In 1875 he removed to Ommo, Winnebago county, Wis., where his wife died, several years later, at the age of seventy years. He then took up his residence in the city of Ironwood, in the northern peninsula of Michigan, where he died in 1896, aged ninety-one years, thus maintaining the family reputation for longevity. Of his twelve children nine attained to years of maturity, namely : Schuyler, Edgar, George, William, Isaac, Helen, Delos, John and Mary. Schuyler Bradley was reared to maturity in Cayuga county, N. Y., where he received a good common-school education. When about nineteen years of age he went to Rockingham county, Va., where he served an apprenticeship at the moulder's and machinist's trades, which he followed from 1852 until 1858. He was residing in his native State at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war, and on the 15th of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth New York Volunteer Infantry, which was later merged into the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery. He remained in service sixteen months and fifteen days, and on the last of December, 1863, at Central Park hospital, New York city, received his honorable discharge, on account of physical disability. For J fifteen years after the close of the war Mr. Bradley was engaged in farming in Caledonia township, Waupaca county, Wis., and in 1880 he located in Fairfield township, Lenawee county, Mich., where he followed the same vocation until 1893, when he came to the adjoining county of Fulton, taking up his residence in the attractive village of Lyons, where he has since lived essentially retired. He is a member of Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the Republic, of Lyons, and his political faith is that for which the Republican party stands voucher. March 23, 1865, Mr. Bradley was married to Mrs. Frances Baxter, widow of Lieut. James H. Baxter, who was killed in the battle of Fort Wagner, S. C., in the Civil war. She was born in Moravia, Cayuga county, N. Y., and is a daughter of Cyrenus and Louisa (Gardner) Sanford, who were pioneers of Lenawee county, Mich, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley have three daughters, namely: Cara, wife of Thomas Jefferson Terry ; Grace, wife of Omer F. Harvey ; and Ida, wife of Asa Munn. CHARLES E. BRAILEY, a successful merchant of Brailey Station, is a native of Norwalk, Huron county, O.. where he was born on July 13, 1852. He is the son of Gen. Moses R. Brailey, whose life sketch appears fully in this work. His mother's maiden name was Sarah I. Maxon. The General and his wife were natives of New York State, and died in Wauseon, 0., the former in January, 1896, and the latter on January 17, 1881. The following children were born to these distinguished parents : Melissa A., who died in middle life ; Albina, now Mrs. J. N. Michaels, of Toledo, 0.; Lester C., of Toledo; James S., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work ; Charles E.; 484 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Elva F., the wife of Norman F. Dull, of Toledo; Sarah M., the wife of A, X. King, of Toledo; Nora A., now Mrs. Andrew McQueen, of Fulton county, and two others who died in infancy. Charles E. Brailey was educated in the public schools of the locality in which he was born and at the Delta and Columbus high schools. His whole life has been spent in the vicinity of the old homestead., For eighteen years he was engaged in the mercantile business at Milroy, and on the advent of the Wabash railroad he moved to his present location, eighty rods south of Milroy, and established the village of Brailey. His establishment is the only general store in the place. In addition to his village property, consisting of fine residence and two store buildings, he owns a valuable and highly cultivated farm of one hundred and forty acres. He transacts a large general merchandise business, handling all kinds of produce and selling all kinds of merchandise. In politics he. is an uncompromising Republican, wielding a strong influence in the counsels of that party as chairman or member of the county central committee. Mr. Brailey is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having been initiated into Delta lodge at the time his distinguished father was Worshipful Master. His membership is now with Swanton lodge, No. 555. He is also actively identified with the order of the Knights of Pythias. On February 21, 1875, he was married to Miss Clara H. Dixon, a native of Wisconsin and the daughter of John and Margaret A. Dixon, both natives of Fulton county, where they ended their days after spending their early married life in Wisconsin. Of the three children that have been born to this union only one is now living. Their names follow : Bessie. M., born in 1876, who was married to Gerald F. Free, an employee of Mr. Brailey, and who died on April 23, 1904, leaving a daughter, Bessie, only eight days old, now a member of the Brailey family ; Moses R., who was born in 1882 and died at the age of nine months, and Vera M., born in 1886, who is still at home. HON. JAMES S. BRAILEY, prominently connected with several corporations in Ohio and Texas, and an influential citizen of Wauseon, was born in Huron county, 0., December 22, 1849 He is the representative of a family whose ancestral history is especially a matter of deep interest to the reading people of Fulton county, because his father, Gen. Moses Rudolph Brailey: was one of the county's most popular and prominent men. General Brailey was a. native of Canandaigua county, N. Y., where he was born November 2, 1817. After completing his public school education at Buffalo, N. Y., he removed to Norwalk, 0., where he engaged in farming and the lumber business. Here he was elected a justice of the peace, the beginning of his highly successful public career. He studied law under the tutorship of Hon. E. M. Stone, of Norwalk, and was admitted to the bar in 1846, and for eleven years practiced his profession in that city. In 1852 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Huron county and two years later re-elected. In 1857 he removed to Fulton county, where he continued the practice of law, and where he was twice elected to the office of prosecuting attorney, in 1858 and 186o. Before the expira- BIOGRAPHICAL - 285 tion of the second term the Civil war broke out. Resigning his office, he tendered his services to his country, though considerably past the age of military duty. His first enlistment was early in 1861, for a period of three months. At the expiration of that term he promptly re-enlisted on August 21, and was mustered into the service as captain of Company I of the Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry. Having been wounded in a skirmish near Spring Mill, Ky., he was discharged in March, 1862. On May following he again entered the service as captain of Company G, of the Eighty-fifth Ohio regiment, and on August 22, was transferred to the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Infantry, with the rank of major and was put in command of the regiment. Major Brailey participated in the battles of Kentucky and Asa Tennessee, and in January, 1863, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. For gallantry on the field of battle he was subsequently promoted to brevet colonel in the regular army and brigadier-general of volunteers. By reason of impaired health, occasioned principally by his former wounds, he was obliged to leave the service, reIving an honorable discharge during the winter of 1863-64. As he Was averse to engaging in the pursuits of civil life while the war loilintinued, he at the solicitation of Governor Brough, accepted the giaffice of paymaster, a position that he held until the close of the war. In 1865 he was elected comptroller of the treasury for the State of iOhio and re-elected three years later, serving in that capacity until 1871. Meanwhile he had been elected a member of the Board of Soldiers' Claims for his State. In 1876 he returned to Fulton county .id resumed the peaceful pursuits of private life, enjoying the privacy of the farm and the practice of law at Swanton. General Brailey was married in Eden, near Buffalo, N. Y. April 21, 1837, choosing for his companion in life's journey, Miss Sarah J. Maxon, of Buffalo, the daughter of Clark and Charity Maxon. The children born to this union were as follows : Melissa, Susan D. Laura L., Sevilla A., Lester C., James S., Charles E., Elva F., Sarah M., Eleanor A. and Ellen E. General Brailey was the son of Gideon and Ann Brailey, of Massachusetts and New York respectively, who traced their ancestry back to early Colonial times. . James S. Brailey having accompanied his parents to Swan Creek township, Fulton county, in 1857, spent his early years on the parental farm and attended the public schools of the county. His education, interrupted by the Civil war, was resumed at its close and completed at the Ohio State University at Columbus. His business interests have been quite varied. Just after the war he secured the position of secretary of the Board of Military Claims and served in that capacity until 1869. Coming to Wauseon, he secured the secretaryship of the Fulton County Building and Loan association and for fifteen years engaged in the insurance business. In 1873-4 he served as deputy county auditor. He was for some years a member of the firm of Rorick & Brailey, brokers and dealers in real estate. For six years he filled the office of secretary of the Safety, Loan and Abstract company, and during the administration of President Harrison, was postmaster of Wauseon. In recent years he has become interested in the building and extension of independent tele- 286 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY phone lines and in equipping telephone exchanges. Primarily the construction of independent telephone plants was restricted to the territory comprising the States of Ohio and Michigan, but later was extenced into the South. Mr. Brailey is at present engaged in building lines in Texas. This invasion of the territory of rival companies, whose service is far from satisfactory, was hailed with delight by the people, who see their opportunity to secure better service at considerably less expense. He is also one of the promoters of the Detroit and Lima railroad, an enterprise of great magnitude and flattering prospects. On December 29, 1870, he was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Iona P.; born in Fulton. county on December 28, 1852, the daughter of Orra and Catherine F.. Blake, one of the most influential families in this county. Mrs. Brailey is a lady of culture and refinement, and possesses many admirable graces peculiar to herself. She to a takes a personal interest in the welfare of the veterans of the Civil war, and has always been a, zealous worker in the Woman's Relief Corps, of which organization she was president for two years at Wauseon. She and her husband have entertained at their home the sCiirrivers of General Brailey's old regiment when assembled in reunion, and have always been especially interested, both with their means and words of encouragement, in making the lives of the old cractuns happier and more comfortable. Mrs. Brailey is an earnest member of the Congregational church and labors unceasingly in its various interests. To James S. Brailey and wife there have been born two sons, James S. Jr., and Orra Lester. James S. Brailey, Jr., of Toledo, O., received his education in the public schools of Wauseon and at the Ohio State University, Columbus. In 1895 he was admitted to the bar as a practicing attorney. Later he turned his attention to other lines of business. After having engaged in the practice of his Plofession in Wauseon and Toledo for some years, he became interested in the telephone business, having experienced the inadequate thaacanmodations afforded by the company that enjoyed a monopoly in that enterprise. Defying all threats of the Bell company, Mr. Brailey and Edward L. Barber, together with Mr. Brailey, Sr., assumed the auressive and established an independent exchange at Waumen. Their request for long distance connections having been refused, these aggressive men proceeded to, construct their own line Cranecting Wauseon with Toledo. As the Wauseon exchange proved a financial success, the Ohio Construction company was organized for the purpose of establishing independent telephone exchanges in other cities, building exchanges at Adrian and Tecumseh, Mich., and Clyde, Elyria and other towns in Ohio, after which J. S. Brailey, Jr., and r4 L. Barber organized the Central Construction company; Ed L. Rather as President and J. S. Brailey, Jr., Secretary and General Manager. Up to date the company has installed independent exchanges in Louisville, Ky., Kansas City., Mo., Utica, N. Y., Springfield, O., Napoleon, Tiffin, Bucyrus, Delaware, Sidney, Piqua and many other Ohio towns and cities, besides building several long distance fines. Recently Mr. Brailey, Jr., has invested largely in Toledo real estate and is now connected with a company to build a half million BIOGRAPHICAL - 287 dollars hotel in Toledo. He was married to Miss Eda Garret, a native of Fulton county, but a resident of Toledo, 0., for some years before her marriage. They have one daughter, Lucile by name. Orra Lester, the younger son, served as a musician during the late war with Spain, serving first as regimental bugler and afterwards as bandmaster, after which he was located at San Antonio, Texas, engaged in the construction of independent telephone plants at San Antonio, Auslist and several other larger cities in Texas. At present he is in California, superintending the mining interests of the family. He was wed to Miss Lottie Nelson of Knoxville, Tenn., a young lady of high social standing and rare accomplishments. She possesses a superb voice which has been cultivated under some of the masters of musical ORRA M. BRAILEY, justice of the peace and notary public of Swanton, Fulton county, 0„ was born in Norwalk, 0., May 25, 1853. He is the representative of one of the most prominent and well-known families of Fulton county, his father being a brother of Gen. M. R. whose life sketch appears fully in the personal article of James S. Brailey. The parents of Orra M. Brailey were Lester and Anna Jane (Brewster) Brailey, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Vermont. Lester Brailey removed to Huron county, 0., in an early day and located on a farm, where he spent his mature life and died at the age of seventy-three years. His widow, now seventy-four years old, still resides on the home farm. Of the six children born to these parents four are still living. The names follow Julia and Jonah, both of whom died in infancy; Orra M., Leonard, Mary and Carrie, the last three named all living in Huron county. Orra M. Brailey grew to manhood on the parental farm and received his education in the Normal at Milan, 0., and Oberlin college. After leaving school he taught in Huron and Fulton counties for fifteen years, meeting with unusual success. Then he engaged in farming in Swan Creek township until 1902, when he removed to Swanton and engaged in the agricultural implement business. In this same year he was elected justice of the peace, and two years later re-elected to the same office. For twelve years he served as director of the Fulton county infirmary and at present holds the office of clerk of Swan Creek township. In the councils of the Republican party he has for years been recognized as one of the local chieftains. Mr. Brailey is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, being at present Worshipful Master of the lodge, and Past Chancellor Commander of Swanton Lodge, No. 558, Knights of Pythias. In religious affairs he is quite liberal. While not connected with any religious organization, he sees good both in and out of the church. On. June 29, 1874, he was married, the lady of his choice being Miss. Sylvania Hunter, a native of Norwalk, 0. They are the parents of three sons, one of whom, Leman, is deceased. The others are: Dr. Harry E., of Swanton and Corwin, who has been traveling in the West for two years in search of health, and who now resides at Denver, Colo., Dr. Harry Early Brailey was born in Norwalk, Huron 288 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY county,, and accompanied his parents to Fulton county when a child. He was reared on the farm and educated in the county public schools and the high school at Delta, where he took a four years' course, graduating in 1894. During the two years following he was engaged in to and clerical work. In 1902 he graduated from the Detroit College of Medicine and at once began the practice of his profession at Swanton, where he has established a successful and remunerative shifts. He is a member of the Fulton County Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical and American Medical associations, and is the medical rinser of a number of insurance companies. The doctor is a stanch Republican and a Member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Wtodinen of the World. He is unmarried and still resides at home. W. F. BRAINARD, the superintendent and a part owner of the Wasseon Lumber Company, was born near Cleveland, in Mayfield township, Cuyahoga county, 0. He is the son of L. E Brainard and Rose (Stratton) Brainard, the former born near Cleveland the latter in Huron county. His paternal grandfather came flymi Connecticut, having come to Ohio in an early day. His Maternal grandparents were natives of Lockport, N. Y. The subject of this sketch received a careful elementary education in the public schools of his native county and was thoroughly trained for the impositions he has held and is now holding. His first business connection was with the Pilliod Lumber Company of Swanton, Fulton county, in the capacity of superintendent During the eight years that had charge of this concern, he displayed remarkable ability, and conducted its affairs so successfully as to endear himself to his employers. When he severed his relations with this company he carried with him their best wishes for success in whatever he might undertake. But greater responsibilities were in store for the subject of this sketch. In 1891 he became part owner and superintendent of the Wauseon Lumber Company, having come to Wauseon with the iiittt, The magnitude of the business done by this company may be judged from the fact that it sells seldom less than seventy thousand dollars worth of manufactured material each year. This remarkable success is due principally to the able management of the business by Mr. Brainard. He makes it his business to look after the affairs of the company just as closely as if the entire property belonged to himself. The territory to which this firm ships the products of its large mill is Ott limited to the United States, for it also enjoys a large export trade. Forty-five men are employed throughout the year by this concern. Lumber, hoops, staves and telephone brackets are manufactured on an extensive scale. Mr. Brainard's wonderftil success is due to the fact that he gives his undivided attention to the management of the business for the successful management of a business of such vast dimensions necessarily requires the entire time of its manager. LEROY S. BRENNER is one of the representative business men and influential citizens of Fayette, where he is junior member of the well-known firm of Acker & Brenner, dealers in agricultural imple- BIOGRAPHICAL - 289 ments and machinery, buggies, carriages, wagons, harness, etc., and manufacturers of harness and saddlery goods, as well as various other products in the line. The present firm was organized in 1893, and the concern has large and well equipped quarters, the establishment being the only one of the sort in the thriving town of Fayette. Mr. Brenner was born on November 3, 1855, in Medina county, Ohio, and is a son of Adam and Mary (Sitz) Brenner, both natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Ohio in the early '50's, settling in Medina county and later removing to Lorain county, where the father died at the age of seventy-two years, having been a resident of the town of Wellington at the time. His widow passsed the closing years of her life in Medina county, where she died in 1893, at the age of eighty-four years. They became the parents of ten children: George is deceased; Ephraim is a resident of Medina county; Frank and Emma are deceased; Theresa is the wife of Jay Beedle, of Medina county; Christopher is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, Wade resides in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Mary is deceased; Leroy S. figures as the immediate subject of this brief sketch; Martha is the wife of Henry Strong, of Battle Creek, Mich. Leroy S. Brenner was reared to maturity in Medina county, in whose public schools he secured that excellent training which so well equipped him for the duties and responsibilities of his later career as an active and successful business man. At the age of sixteen years, in Wellington, Lorain county, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of harness-making, serving three years and three months and becoming a thoroughly skilled artisan in the line. He then went to Hastings, Mich., where he was employed at his trade a short time, then locating in Bellevue, that State, where he followed his trade several years, a portion of the time having had a shop of his own. Previously to this, however, he had been employed for a time in Union City, that State, in the shop of one of the town's pioneer business men, Edwin Lee, and after returning to Bellevue and conducting his own shop for a time he disposed of the same and removed to Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, where he was engaged in the hotel business for the ensuing seven months. He then returned to Wellington and entered into a contract to manufacture fifty sets of harness, completing the work in due course of time. In February, 1884, Mr. Brenner came to Fayette, and for the following six years was here associated in, the harness business with Benjamin D. Durling. He then continued in the same line of enterprise individually, and he also opened a carriage and buggy emporium in connection, building up an excellent trade, and continued his operations in these lines, on Main street, for a period of twelve years. He then formed his present partnership, with Gary Acker, and they control a large and important business, extending over a wide radius of country. In the meanwhile Mr. Brenner had become identified with other business enterprises, having conducted a livery stable one year, and having had a grocery store about the same length of time, and he also became proprietor of a blacksmith shop. He is progressive and energetic and possesses excellent business acumen, so that he has been successful in 290 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY his efforts, and in his business career he has made a steady and substantial advancement, gaining prosperity and independence through his own efforts, and his course has been such as to retain to him the esteem and confidence of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life. He is public-spirited and loyal to the interests of his home town, where he has stock in several commercial and industrial corporations. He is a supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he served five years as a member of the village council of Fayette. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At Olivet, Mich., December 28, 1882, Mr. Brenner was united in marriage to Miss Anna L. Adams, of Bellevue, that State, and they have four children—Clarence, Leta, Verna and Lucille. HON. FRANKLIN BRIGGS, a prominent and highly successful merchant of Delta, and a representative of one of the early established families of Fulton county, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 15, 1841. He is the son of Francis and Sarah (Cuffel) Briggs, both natives of Wayne county. Francis Briggs was a physician by profession and followed that calling until his death which occurred at the age of fifty-five years in Ft. Wayne, Ind., his wife having died a few years earlier, aged fifty-two years. They were the parents of five children. all of whom are still living. They are: Mrs. Sarah J. Hill, a widow, of Wauseon, 0.; Franklin; Margaret, now Mrs. Fluhart of Continental, O.; Matilda, now Mrs. Springstead of Springfield, O.; Charles W., a mechanic of Bellefontaine, 0. Franklin Briggs grew to manhood in his native county and was educated in the Waterville, 0,., graded school. He began his independent life career by enlisting as a soldier in Company I of the Fourteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving three months, and then for three years in Company K of the Sixty-seventh Ohio regiment. Enlisting as a private he rose in rank step by step until he reached that of Captain, attaining to the command of his company before he was twenty-one years old, and serving as such for more than two years. Although he took part in forty-three engagements of greater or less degree, he escaped personal injury. Among these engagements may be mentioned the following Phillippi, Cheat River, First Battle of Winchester and other maneuvers in Shenandoah Valley, Black River, Harrison's Landing, Siege and Battle of Petersburg, Siege of Charleston and the Storming of Fort Wagner. In November, 1864, he was mustered out of service and. returned home, to embark soon after in the drug business, which he shortly after augmented by engaging also in the hardware business. Disposing of his drug establishment soon after he gave his undivided attention to the management of the hardware business, in which he met with unusual success, his trade extending to all parts of the county. He handles a general line of hardware, farm machinery, vehicles, etc. Mr. Briggs has always been an ardent Republican and has attained to an honored position within his party, having filled various offices in the town of Delta. In 1903 he was elected representative from his county to the Ohio legislature, serving during the BIOGRAPHICAL - 291 session of 1904, and his services were so acceptable to his constituents that he was re-elected on November 7, 1905, for another term. He was chairman of the Temperance committee, member of the committee on Fees and Salaries; also on that of Public Ways. In the counsels cif the Masonic fraternity he has attained to the exalted position of a Thirty-second degree member. With the Grand Army of the Republic is actively identified, being post commander of McQuillin Post, No, 271. Together with his family he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part in all branches of church work. Mr. Briggs has been married three times. His first wife was Miss Laura Trowbridge, who died without issue. He next was wedded to Miss Mattie Hill, of Tuscarawas county. To this union two children were born, both of whom died prior to the mother's death. His present wife was Miss Emma Gelzer of Delta, who is the mother pi four children. They are: Marion W., a graduate of the Electrical Engineering Department in Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, who is interested in his father's business ; Earnest F., a graduate of the classical course of the University of Michigan, also a member of the firm of F. Briggs & Sons; Clara Louise, a graduate of the Woman's College of Baltimore, Md., who is still at home, and Bernice, a student at Evanston, Ill. RUFUS BRIGGS, a representative of a prominent timber firm of Boston, Mass., was born in Penobscot county, Me., April 14, 1828. lie is the son of Erastus and Cynthia (Holden) Briggs, the former,. fawn in New Salem, Mass., in 1795, and the latter near Sedgwick,, Penobscot county, Maine, in 1814. In the fall of 1835 Erastus Briggs. removed to Maumee, where he resided until April 1, 1837, when he game to Clinton township. He was a surveyor by occupation, having been thoroughly trained for that work, and had the honor of having' taught the first school in Clinton township. At the time Mr. Briggs settled in Fulton county it was a part of Lucas county. His purchase of land of Elijah Humigton constitutes the first transfer recorded in that township. In the first election held in the township Mr. Briggs. served as clerk. Finally he moved back to Maumee River, where he died in 1839, forty-four years of age. After his death his widow moved back to Clinton township, where she reared her family on a fatm. Here she died in 1898, at the ripe age of eighty-four years. The children. of Erastus Briggs and wife are: Catherine, the wife of George Leonard of Napoleon, 0. Rufus, the subject of this sketch; Maria, the wife of Ben Cooper of Covington, Ky.; Rowena, now Mrs. Miller of Covington, Ky., and Erastus, a resident of Judsonia, Ark., since 1870, where he is prominent in public and religious affairs, being identified with the Baptist church. William Holden, the father of Cynthia (Holden) Briggs, served as an officer in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. The subject of this sketch, at the age of sixteen years, went to Covington, Ky., where he resided for seven years. From Covington he removed to Ohio and in 1854 located at Wauseon. He made this last journey on the first passenger train on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. Since his residence 292 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY in Wauseon he has quite actively engaged in the timber business, representing a prominent Boston firm. His territory consists of Northwestern Ohio, Northeastern Indiana and Southern Illinois. The magnitude of his business may be judged from the fact that he purchases annually from forty thousand to seventy thousand dollars worth of timber for his firm. He takes great interest in the Pioneer Association of Fulton county, first organized by Col. D. W. H. Howard, who was the first president, holding the office as long as he lived. At the death of Colonel Howard the oldest settler in the county became his successor,, for it is one of the rules of the organization that whenever a vacancy occurs the oldest settler in the county becomes its presiding officer. For forty-four years Mr. Briggs has taken part in the propagation of the principles of Odd Fellowship. He married Miss Martha J. Bowen, the daughter of John and Nancy (Willett) Bowen, of Covington, both natives of Virginia. In 1902 he was so unfortunate as to lose his wife, who died, aged seventy years. The family of the subject of this sketch consists of the following children: Harvey 0., of Toledo, 0.; Julia P., now the widow of Charles Orr-al, of Wauseon; Ada M., now Mrs. F. S. Kissenger, and William W., of Toledo. JOEL BRIGHAM, JR., the pioneer hardware merchant of Wauseon, was born in Dunkirk, Chautauqua. county, N. Y., January 1o, 1818. He is the son of Joel Brigham, Sr., and Polly Ann (Durkee) Brigham, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Connecticut. Joel Brigham, Sr., was born in Worcester county, Mass., September 12, 1785, and married Polly Ann Durkee, the daughter of Benjamin and Susan Durkee. He served as a soldier of the War of 1812 with the rank of lieutenant. In 1833 the family removed to Ohio and located near Lodi, Medina county, where both died. Seven children were born to their marriage, one of whom, Winfield, aged ninety years, has resided in Fulton county for more than fifty years. The Brigham family trace their ancestors back to the year 1635, when Thomas Brigham came to America from London, England, and settled at Marlboro, Mass. His son, Thomas Brigham, Jr., was born in 1640 and married Miss Mary Rice. Their son, Jonathan Brigham, born February 26, 1674, married Miss Mary Fay and served as selectman and moderator of Marlboro in 1715. Their son, Joel, a selectman of Marlboro in 1763, married Miss Mary Chrrch, in August, 1762. Samuel, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, born December 3, 1765, married Phoebe Davis of Worcester, and moved to Madison, N. Y., where he died in 1811. Their son, Joel Brigham, Sr., was born September 12, 1785, and married Polly Ann Durkee. Joel Brigham, Jr., the subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm and educated in the schools of his home county. In 1848 he embarked in business in Chatham Centre, Medina county, operating a general store and serving as postmaster, having received his appointment to that office from President Taylor, and remained there five years. In 1853 he removed to Clinton township, Fulton county, where for the next four years he engaged in farming and lumbering. He then became interested in the milling business, being a member of the firm of Brigham & Spring- BIOGRAPHICAL - 293 er. In 1859 he removed to Wauseon and began his career as a hardware merchant, which business he conducted with marked ability and phenomenal success up to the date of his retirement from active duty. The present brick building on Main street used by the Brigham hardware store was built in 1871. Joel Brigham, Jr., has been equally Active in public affairs, having served as justice of the peace three terms, as mayor of the city two terms and as county commissioner, two terms. While always very busy attending to business and official duties, he has found considerable time to devote to the management of the Wauseon cemetery. In 1877 he was first elected a member of the board of cemetery trustees, in which capacity he is still serving. UnIgier his skillful management, for he has practically been the superintendent, the Wauseon cemetery has been made one of the most beautiful in Northern Ohio. Since 1877 the sale of every lot has been made by him. The business and official career of Joel Brigham, Jr., has been marked by the strictest integrity and the most pronounced success. In his declining years he still gives time and attention to public affairs, and is happy in the enjoyment of the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, not only of Fulton county but of the neighboring counties. His friendship, hospitality and good citizenship are well known to all. In 1838 he married Miss Betsy Lyon, born nt 182o, the daughter of Elias and Relief Lyon, who located at Chatham, Medina county, in 1835. W. S. Brigham, their eldest son, was for some years city clerk of Wauseon and he is now serving as postmaster, having been appointed by President McKinley and reappointed by President Roosevelt. He married Miss Ellen E. Buchanan, Of Norwalk, 0., the daughter of Henry and Phillinda (Chamberlain) Buchanan. They have two children : Luretta, now Mrs. B. W. Crissey, of Oak Park, Chicago, Ill., and Ralph W., who is now with his father in the postoffice. H. T. B. Brigham, the second son, was born in Chatham Centre, Medina county, and educated in the Wauseon public schools. He began his business career in the book, stationery and jewelry business and followed that calling for four years. For two years he served in the Eighty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, his regiment being a part of the Army of the Cumberland. His command helped to capture the Confederate general, John Morgan. For some years he has been successfully conducting a telephone construction business. In the affairs of the Masonic fraternity he takes a deep interest. He married Miss Elizabeth Lucas, of Madison, N. Y., and by her has two children, Lawrence and Helen. Clarence E. Brigham, the youngest son, has succeeded to his father's hardware, business and is conducting the same with marked success. He is the husband of Inez Scott, the daughter of W. C. Scott, of Wauseon. Harriet Brigham, the elder daughter is the wife of W. H. Schrowe.. They have one child, Harvard B., born March 29, 1886, now a student of Oberlin college. Cecelia, the younger daughter, was joined in wedlock to Dr. C. E. Bennett, one of Wauseon's leading physicians. Walter, a stud mt of the. Lima Military Academy, and Florence H. are the names of their two children. Col. J. H. Brigham, a nephew of the subject of this sketch, who recently died, was the son of Winfield Brigham, a 294 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY resident of Fulton county for more than fifty years. Colonel Brigham was also a resident of this county and was the owner of a large farm at Delta. During the Civil war he was lieut.-colonel of the Sixty-ninth Ohio, volunteer infantry and commanded a brigade in General Sherman’s march from Atlanta to the sea. He always took a great interest in agriculture and was at one time an active member of the Ohio State and the National granges. For three terms he was sheriff of Fulton county and for one term he represented his county in the State senate. At the lime of his death he was assistant secretary of the agricultural department of the National government. ROY S. BRIGHAM, a young and prosperous farmer of Swan Creek township, was born at Wauseon, July 2, 1873. He is the son of Col. and Edna (Allman) Brigham, both natives of Ohio. Col. J. H.. Brigham was born in Lodi, Medina county, 0., December 12, 1838. He grew to manhood, receiving a very liberal education in the public schools of his home county, Berea college and the Lebanon, Ohio Normal. On the breaking out of the Civil war he entered the army as a private, serving at first in the Twelfth Ohio and afterwards in the Sixty-ninth Ohio regiment. Of the latter he became Lieutenant-Colonel, having passed through all of the intermediate grades. All of his promotions came to him as a reward of meritorious conduct on the field of battle. Returning from the army at the close of the war, He located in Fulton county, where for many years he was extensively engaged in farming, and during that time held many prominent official positions. For three terms he filled very satisfactorily the office of Sheriff of Fulton county and one term he served in the State Senate. He was a candidate for Congress on the Republican ticket, but was defeated in a district that was largely Democratic. In the work of the Grange , movement Colonel Brigham took a very active part, serving as Master of the National Grange for five successive terms. For six years he was a member of the Ohio State board of agriculture, being its president one year. During his whole life he was very active in politics, being in close touch with the National leaders of the Republican party. He was an intimate personal friend of President McKinley and followed that national chieftain throughout his illustrious career. After serving on the Ohio State board of managers of the penitentiary, he was, in 1897, appointed by President McKinley Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, a position he held until his death. By virtue of his office he was prominently connected with the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, having charge of much of the detail work of each. While on his way from Washington to St. Louis, in June, 1904, he stopped off at his farm home near Delta to visit his son, Roy S., and while there was stricken with heart failure, a malady from which he had been a sufferer for a number of years., and died very suddenly on June 29, 1904, his wife, who was born in Swan Creek township, June 17, 1840, having died one year before. They were the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters. The children are: Kate, now Mrs. Higgins of Ashley, Mich.; Bessie B., now Mrs. Dunbar of Toledo, 0.; Roy S.; BIOGRAPHICAL - 295 Harry H., connected with the Board of Government Managers of the St. Louis Exposition, who married Miss Mabel Cofin, of Wauseon ; Mary B., the wife of Sheldon S. Cline, of the Washington (D. C.) Post, and Josephine, who makes her home with Mrs. Cline. Colonel Brigham was so long and so prominently before the public that his death occasioned universal grief, not only among his old friends and neighbors but throughout the State and nation. A committee was appointed by the United States Board of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to draft suitable resolutions of condolence, and Major William H. Michael was appointed as the representative of that body at the funeral. A like action was taken by the officials of the Agricultural Department, were represented by a committee at the burial services. As he was very successful in his business transactions, he left a large estate, consisting mostly of farms in Fulton county. He was a generous, openhearted friend, a kind and loving father, whose tragic end came as an litteparable bereavement to his family. Roy S. Brigham was educated the Delta public schools and has lived on the farm which he now occupies since his sixth year. Of the home estate, consisting of three ithriclred and eighty acres, one hundred and sixteen, in a high state of aitivation, are in the farm of Mr. Brigham. General farming, dairying and stock-raising constitute his occupation, and the surroundings show that he has been unusually successful. He is a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, of Octavius Waters Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and Aurora Chapter, No. 75, Order Eastern Star, his wife also being a member of the last named organization. Politically he is identified with the Republican party. On March 26, 1896, he was married to Miss Carrie E. Mason, a native. of Cleveland and the daughter of Charles Mason, deceased. Her mother was Evelyn Clark, now the wife of John G. Rorabeck, a druggist of Delta. Roy S. Brigham and wife are the parents of one interesting daughter, Helen, now in her eighth year and attending the Delta schools. BYRON BRINK is another of the representative farmers of Chesterfield township who is properly accorded specific consideration in this history, his postoffice address being Morenci, Lenawee county, Mich., from which village his home is three miles distant. Mr. Brink is a member of one of the well known pioneer families of Fulton county, and was born on a farm near Fayette, in Gorham township, this county, oh the 6th of December, 1847. His father, Jacob Brink, was born in Richland county, Ohio, where he married Miss Phoebe Taylor, and they Came to Fulton county in 1847, locating on a farm west of Fayette, where the father passed the remainder of his life, having reclaimed his farm from the wilds and made good improvements on the same. Lie died on the homestead, in 1853. His wife was born in the State of New York, and she accompanied her parents on their removal to Richland county, where she remained until her marriage and removal to Fulton county, as noted. She died in 1875, having survived her husband by more than a score of years. They became the parents of four children, of whom Byron was the first born; Bartley died on Jan- 296 - HISTORY OF MAW COUNTY uary 20, 1894; Bainbridge died in 1905; and Jacob B. is a: prosperous farmer of Gorham township. Byron Brink passed his boyhood and youth on the old, homestead farm which was the place of his birth, and his educational training was secured principally in the common schools of the village of Fayette. In 1872 he purchased a farm of Sixty acres, and he has since made several additional purchases, as well as sales, and is the owner of three hundred and ten acres of very fine land, his farm being well drained and very prolific in cultivation. He devotes his attention to diversified agriculture and to the raising of high-grade live stock, having made a specialty of thoroughbred and registered Poland-China swine since 1877 and of thoroughbred Holstein cattle since 1900. He has erected good buildings on his estate, including a commodious and attractive residence, and is one of the wideawake and progressive farmers of the county. In political affairs his support is given to the Republican party and he has held various local offices, including that of township trustee, of which he was incumbent six terms, while he has also been road supervisor and a valued member of the school board. In 187o Mr. Brink married Miss Sarah A. Powers, who was born in Fulton county, in 1849, being a daughter of Peter and Julia (Canneda) Powers, who were natives of Connecticut and who came to Fulton county in the pioneer days, here passing the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Brink was summoned to the life eternal in 1872, having become the mother of one child, George E., who died at the age of twenty-one years. In 1873 Mr. Brink married Miss Elizabeth Rutledge, who was born in Williams county, Ohio, August 19, 1854, being a daughter of William and Sarah (Lipey) Rutledge, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Richland county, Ohio, whence they came to Williams county, where they remained until death, the mother passing away Deoernber 27, 1884, and the father on the 7th of May, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Brink have eight children; Sarah J. is the wife of Arthur Smith, of Lyons, this county; Phoebe M. is the wife of Edwin Powell, of Morenci, Mich.; Bertha A. is the wife of Everett Smith, of Chesterfield; Harry married Miss Laura Crow, and is engaged in farming in Chesterfield township; Maye and Ray (twins), and James W. and John H. remain at the parental home. JOHN L. BRINK is a representative farmer of Gorham township,. is a scion of one of the pioneer families of the Buckeye commonwealth, and is one who honored the State by meritorious and gallant service in the ranks of the Union army during practically the entire period of the Civil war. He was born in DeKalb, Crawford county, Ohio, June 12, 1845, and is a son of Levi and Elizabeth (Robinson) Brink, the former of whom was born in Richland county, Ohio, and the latter in the State of Virginia. Both died in DeKalb, where the father had followed the vocation of tanner and shoemaker, their deaths resulting from typhoid fever. The father was born June 15, 1820, and died November 16, 1846, and his wife, who was born October 9, 1820, died March 17, 1847, so that in death they were not long divided. They became the parents of two children, of whom BIOGRAPHICAL - 297 the, younger, John L., subject of this sketch, was less than a year old when he became doubly orphaned. The elder child, Charles Wesley, was born October 31, 1841, and died on the 24th of the following April. After the death of his parents, John L. Brink was taken into the home of his parental grandparents, Cornelius and Hannah (Bodley) Brink, by whom he was carefully reared and educated. They were early settlers of Richland county, Ohio, and in 1858 they came to Fulton county and took up their residence in Gorham township, where the grandfather gave his attention to farming until his death, which resulted from an accident. He passed away in 1863, at the age of sixty-five years, and his wife, who was born February 9, 1799, died at the age of eighty-four years, four months and twenty-five days. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom but one, are now deceased. John L. Brink secured his early education in the common schools of Gorham township, where he was reared on the farm of his grandfather, with whom he remained associated until the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, when he promptly manifested his loyalty and patriotism. September 1, 1861, at the age of sixteen years, he enlisted as a private in Company K Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer. Infantry, at Fayette, his command being assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. He was an active participant in many important battles and minor engagements, among which may be designated the following: Wildcat and Mill Springs, Ky., siege of Corinth, Miss.; Perryville and Stone River; Hoover Gap, Missionary Ridge, Resaca and Kenesaw Mountain; the Atlanta campaign, under General Sherman; Jonesboro, Ga., and the George campaign; siege of Savannah; and the campaign through the Carolinas, including the engagement at Raleigh, North Carolina, on the 10th of April, 1865. He was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 10, 1865, and received his honorable discharge a few days later, in Cleveland, Ohio. He then returned to Gorham township; his grandfather having died in the meantime, and soon after he went to Northern, Michigan, where he was identified with the great lumbering industry until 1868, when he returned to Gorham township, where he has since made farming his principal vocation, having a well-improved farm of eighty acres and being one of the honored citizen of the community in which he has so long made his home. In politic, Mr. Brink maintains an independent attitude, and in a fraternal way he is an appreciative member of the Grand Army of the Republican being a popular comrade of Stout Post, No. 128, at. Fayette. Mrs. Brink is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. December 29, 1868, Mr. Brink was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Saltzgaber, who was born near Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio January 19, 1841, being a daughter of John and Sylvia (Wise) Saltgaber, natives of Lebanon county, Pa. The father was born April 13, 1807, and died September 28, 1860, in Gorham township. His wife was born November 25, 1805, and died July 2, 1889. They were married in their native county and in March, 1836, located in Richland county, Ohio, where they remained until 1847, when they came to what is now Fulton county, passing the remainder of their live 298 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY in Gorham township, the father having devoted the greater portion of his active life to work at the cabinetmaker's trade. They became the parents of eleven children, concerning whom the following data are incorporated: Margaret, born May 6, 1827, died February 21, 1898; Jonathan, born September 16, 1828, resides in Prattville, Mich.; Eliza was born June 14, 1831; Henrietta was born July 24, 1833, and is the wife of James Brink, of Gorham township; John, who was born August 22, 1835, is deceased; Mary, born July 27, 1838, is the wife of Edward Coleman, of Fayette; Sarah A. is the wife of the subject of this sketch; William Henry, born June 1, 1841, resides in Helena, Mont.: George, born July 22. 1843, died September 25, 1888; Matilda, born May 18, 1847, died September 27, 1902; and Thomas, born December 18, 1848, died January 10, 1852. To Mr. and Mrs. Brink have been born three children: Hugh C., born May 7, 1870, met his, death by drowning, August 4, 1901. Earl E., who was born January 1, 1872, is a successful farmer of Gorham township. May 2, 1895, he married Miss Minnie Glime, of Williams county, and they have one child, Leila May, born April 6, 1896. Nelson L., youngest of the three children of Mr. Brink, was born September 6, 1875, and is engaged in farming in Gorham township. January 23, 19oo, he married Jennie Lester, daughter of Isaac Lester, mentioned elsewhere in this publication, and they have one child, Lois, born FebruarY 17, 1903. FREDERICK BRINKMAN is one of those worthy representatives of the German fatherland who have contributed so materially to the stability and progress of the various communities in which they have loaded upon coming to America. He is the owner of one of the fine farms of York township, and is one of the leading agriculturists and stock-growers of this section of the county. He was born in Pyermont, Germany, on the 24th of April, 1845, and is a son of Frederick and Cathrine (Ritterbush) Brinkman, both of whom died in Germany, the mother in 1853 and the father in 1855. Frederick Brinkman was reared and educated in his native land, where he remained until the year 1869, when he immigrated to the. United States, fitst locating in New York City, and he became a resident of Fulton county in 1870. In the centennial year of our national independence, Mr. Brinknian purchased forty acres of land in York township, taking up his residence in a primitive log cabin, near the site of his present fine brick house, and setting himself vigorously and systematically to the task of reclaiming and improving his property. As prosperity crowned his efforts he added to the area of his landed estate, eventually becoming the owner of two hundred and eighty acres. He has since sold one hundred and twenty acres to his son, retaining the remaining one hundred and sixty acres, including the original homestead which he secured thirty years ago. His residenbe is one of the best in the township and the other farm buildings ate in harmony therewith. Though never a seeker of public office Mr. Brinkman is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he and his wife are members of the United BIOGRAPHICAL - 299 Brethren church. In 1873 Mr. Brinkman was united in marriage to Miss Mary Orth, who was born in Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, September 20, 1842, and they have four children, namely ; G. William, who married Miss Nettie McKibbens and is engaged in farthing in Clinton township ; Frederick C., who is a farmer at home: Mary, who is the wife of Sherman Russell, of York township ; and W. Herman, who married Miss Fanny Ruhley and is engaged in farming in York township, where he/owns and operates a farm of eighty acres. DAVIS BROWN, secretary and treasurer of the Fulton county Savings and Banking company, of Lyons, and also numbered among the leading farmers of Royalton township, is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the county and is in all senses eligible for recognition in a publication of the province assigned to the one at hand. He was born in Royalton township, on the 4th of January, 1842, and is a son of George B. and Eliza Ann (Coyle) Brown, the fo:mer of whom was born in Connecticut, of old Colonial stock, while the latter was born in Monroe county, Mich. George B. Brown was reared and educated in his native State, and as 'a young man removed thence to the State of New York, where he followed the professi of teaching.. About 1840 he came to Fulton county, Ohio, and purchased eighty acres of wild land, in Royalton township, the property being located in Section 11. For some time he worked by the day in Madison township, Lenawee county, Mich., and after his marriage he located on his farm, which he reclaimed and improved, and later he purchased an additional tract of eighty acres, clearing a portion of the same, and had the distinction of serving as the first sheriff of Fulton county. In 1870 he removed to Bedford, Monroe county, Mich.,in which locality he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and there he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, having been eighty-three years of age at the time of his death, in 1898. He was twice married. His first wife, Eliza Ann (Coyle) Brown, who died in 1852, bore him three children, Davis, subject of this sketch; George D., a resident of Lyons, Ohio; and Lucy J., deceased wife of Frank Pierce. For his second wife Mr. Brown married Esther Rawson, who died two years previous to Mr. Brown, two children having been born of this union, Mary E., deceased; and Ida. wife of William Whitrnill. Davis Brown was reared to maturity on the old homestead in Royalton township and is indebted to the common schools of the locality for his early educational advantages, while later he attended Adrian College, at Adrian, Mich., for a time, gaining his education largely through personal effort and application outside of the schoolroom. On attaining his majority he engaged in teaching, in Conway township, Livingston county, Mich., where he followed his pedagogic profession two winter terms, working on a farm in the intervening simmicrs. With the exception of these two years he has passed practically his entire life in Royalton township, where he is now the owner of one of the finest farms in the county, the same comprising 160 acres, being under effective cultivation and being well improved, the build- 300 - HISTORY, OF FULTON COUNTY inga including a handsome brick residence. Since 1902 he has been giving special and discriminating attention to the propagation of sugar beets and to the upbuilding of the industry. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Lenawee County (Mich.) Beet Sugar company, of which he was president until it was merged into the Continental Beet Sugar company, which is now building a plant at Blissfield, Mich., at a cost of $600,000. He was also one of the organizers of the Fulton County Savings and Banking company, of I.yons, which initiated business in January, 1899, and he was vice-president of the company until November 1, 1904, when he was elected secretary and treasurer, since which time he has given even closer attention to the executive affairs of this prosperous institution. He is also interested in a capitalistic way in two cheese factories, one in Amboy, this county, and the other in Ogden Center, Lenawee county, Mich., each having a capacity for the output of sixteen cheeses a day. In politics Mr. Brown is a stalwart supporter of the Democratic cause, and while not formally identified with any religious organization he is a liberal supporter of church work and is charitable and tolerant in his views and associations. He is affiliated with Royalton Union Lodge, No. 434, F. & A. M.; Lyons Chapter, No. 175, R. A. M., of which he is high priest ; and Wauseon Council, R. & S. M., as well as with the Order of the Eastern Star and the Knights of the Maccabees. In 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brown to Miss Harriet A. Johnson, daughter of Sullivan and Fidelia (Worden) Johnson, honored pioneers of Amboy township, and of this union have been born four children: George S., Marvin D., Chloe (Mrs. Charles Fetterman), and Eugene A. REV. GEORGE W. BROWN is the able and popular pastor of the Presbyterian church at Delta and it is consonant that in this volume be entered a review of his life and labors. George Wilbur Brown is a native of the old Buckeye State, having been born in Piketon, Pike county, Ohio, May 18, 1872, and being a son of Henry and Sarah A. (Duke) Brown, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Pike county, being representatives 9f sterling pioneer families of that section of the State. Henry Brown, who resides on his old homestead farm in Pike county, and who is also the owner and operator of a flour mill at Piketon, is a son of John Brown, who was an extensive landholder in the valley of the Sciota river, having inherited the property from his father, who was a prominent and influential pioneer of that beautOld part of the State. His name was Henry Brown, and he was a native of Loudoun county, Va., the family being of English origin, and the genealogy in the American branch is traced back to progenitors who came to the New World in the time of William Penn. Henry Brown was, thrice married and became the father of twenty-six children. In a cognatic way the Brown family is related to the well-known Lucas family, prominent in the annals of Ohio, Governor Lucas, of this State, having been a great-uncle of the subject of this sketch. Henry Brown (ad), father of Rev. George W., has been prominent in the public and industrial affairs of Pike county for many years, and BIOGRAPHICAL - 301 is now a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of Piketon, where he has varied other capitalistic interests. He resides on the old homestead, in company with his three unmarried daughters. His cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal on the 24th of March, 1884. Of their nine children two died in infancy. Charles E. is special agent for the Standard Oil company at Charleston, West Va., his home being in Portsmouth, Ohio. Anna L. is the wife of J. W. Bailey, of Anderson, Ind. Eudora B., Eliza L. and Sallie D remain with their father, as before intimated. Harry K. is engaged in the hardware business in Spokane, Wash. Rev. George W. Brown completed the curriculum of the public schools in Piketon, after which completed the work of the sophomore year in the Ohio University, at Athens, and in 1899 he was graduated in the University of Wooster, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the spring of 1898, while in the junior year at this institution, he enlisted in Company D, Eighth Regiment of the Ohio National Guard, and on the 13th of the following May, with his command, was mustered into the volunteer service of the United States. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Alger, Va., and on the 5th of July left for New York City, where the command lenbarked for Santiago on the evening of the following day. The transpcirt arrived off the port of Santiago on Sunday, July 10, and fell back to Siboney, where the soldiers disembarked, marching across the province of Santiago and reaching the firing line on the night of July 14. Mr. Brown's command was placed in the entrenchments, as reinforcement. He witnessed the surrender of Santiago; from the trenches of San Juan Hill, on Sunday, July 17. August 18, he left the island, and after various detentions arrived at Montauk Point. He and his comrades were on the cattle-ship Mohawk for eleven days while enroute home, there being much illness on board and much Offering being entailed through other causes, so that a large number of the soldiers had to be borne out on stretchers when the vessel finally ttached Montauk Point. After remaining nine days in detention camp Mr. Brown started with his regiment for Ohio, reaching Cleveland on the 8th of September and being granted a furlough of sixty days. The victory of the American forces was such that he was not agam called into service, and he was mustered out, at Wooster, on the 21st of November, 1898, by Harry R. Lee, first lieutenant of the Sixth United States Infantry. Upon his return to Ohio Mr. Brown passed a week at the paternal home and then resumed his regular work in the. University of Wooster, losing but lour weeks of the college work, though he was in the military service seven months during the Spanish-American war, as just noted. Immediately after his graduation Mr. Brown went to the Pacific coast and shipped as a sailor for Alaska, on a vessel chartered by the Presbyterian synod of the State of Washington. Sailing from the city of Seattle, the vessel visited the various mission stations of the Presbyterian church in Alaska, and the trip proved both enjoyable and educational to Mr. Brown. Upon his return he entered the Presbyterian theological seminary of San Francisco, continuing his ecclesiastical studies later at San Anselmo, that State, and finally entering the Western Seminary, in Allegheny, Pa. He was 302 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian church on the 28th of April, tow, at Venedocia, Ohio, by the Lima presbytery, the Rev. R. J. Thompson, of Lima, preaching the sermon, and the Rev. D. Evans, of Venedocia, delivering the charge. His first pastoral charge was in Monticello, Ohio, and in October, 1902, he accepted a call to the :First Presbyterian church of Tipton, Ind., where he remained for two years, doing a very successful work in his pastorate. In October, 1904, Mr. Brown received a call to the First Presbyterian church at Delta, Ohio, and he resigned his charge in Tipton to accept the pastorate is which he his since served with so much of zeal, consecration and oneness, infusing vitality and inspiration into both the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church and gaining the unqualified regard. elf .his people. The church has one hundred and fourteen communicants, and the Sunday-school has an enrollment of more than one hundred with ten teachers. Mr. Brown has unbounded enthusiasm in his work, being a forceful and eloquent speaker and being a man of broad and practical ideas, striving ever to bring the cause of the Divine into the daily lives and works of those who come within the sphere of his pastoral or personal influence. He has voluntarily expanded the scope of his pastorate by taking up the work in neighboring localities, preaching three and often four sermons each Sunday. He is much interested in the opening and establishing of local missions of a church and also in general Sunday-school work in the county. During his pastorate in Tipton, Ind., he was president of the board of childrens' guardians of Tipton county. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. June ale, soot, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brown to Miss Inez Jennette Riddile, of Barnesville, Ohio. She was born in Cambridge, Guernsey county, Ohio, October 7, 1876, and is a daughter of Dr. Garrett V. and Margaret (McCall) Riddile, her father being a leading dentist of Barnesville, Ohio. She was a classmate of her husband in Ohio University, taking the musical course, and was assistant instructor in piano work in the institution. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have Into sons, Henry Van Emen, born September 18, 1902; and George W., Jr, born July 6, 1904. DAVID LEWIS BULER, a retired citizen of Wauseon, was born in the Canton of Bernies, Switzerland, on January 4, 1816. He landed New York City December 18, 1819, with his mother, Mary Ann Buler, his father and an only brother having died on the ocean voyage. With his mother he came from New York to Lucas county, O., in 1834, batting near Toledo, where he remained three years. Then in 1838 he removed to Royalton township, very sparsely settled at that time, and settled on wild land. Then he bought land of the United States government at Monroe, Mich., and lived on it until 1852, when he removed to California. Three years later he returned to Ohio, locating in Amboy township, where he lived on a farm purchased by him until 1881, Plain Amboy township he removed to Wauseon, where he bought land and built a home in which he has lived ever mice. As a pastime he BIOGRAPHICAL - 303 has engaged in bee culture, a business in which he has always taken a deep interest. In school affairs and church work he has always taken an active part, having served for many years as a school director and having been instrumental in building a number of churches. He has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church since he was twenty-one years old, having held official positions in that organization for many years. Six churches and three parsonages have been built in this and Lucas county in which he was very active in building. In the building of the church in Royalton township he served alone as building committee, so fully was his ability and judgment recognized by his fellow-members. He first married Miss Mary Skinner, the daughter of Henry S. Skinner, a native of Vermont, who lived on a farm in Amboy township. She died in 1889. To this marriage five children were born. They are: Adelia, the wife of Celah Buck of children Amboy township, and Lewis D. Buler, deceased. In 1890, in Wauseon, David L. Buler married Miss Mary Linfoot, born in Clinton township, the daughter of John and Jane (Millspaugh) Linfoot, pioneer settlers of that township. John Linfoot was born in Lincolnshire, England, and his wife m Perry, Wyoming county, N. Y. Lewis D. Buler, deceased, son of the subject of this sketch, married Miss Hattie Wood, A native of Lenawee county, Mich. They had one child, Bertha Buler, who married Reverend Olive, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the name of her only child is Flossie Olive. Adelia Buck is the mother of two interesting children, named Ella and Walter. Walter Buck married Miss Nellie Smith and has one child, named Oakley. The picture of all the family, including the children and grandchildren, taken when the subject of this sketch was eighty-five years old, is a fine likeness. Daniel Lewis Buler has never used tobacco or liquor and he attributes his good health to his abstinence from these narcotics. JAMES F. BURROUGHS is the owner of five well-improved farms in Royalton township and is numbered among the large landholders and influential citizens of this section of the county, where he has made his home the greater portion of the time for nearly three-score years, being thus numbered among the pioneers of this section of the State. He was born in Palmyra, N. Y., April 4, 1835, and is a son of Patrick and Ann (Forrester) Burroughs, both natives of Ireland, the father having been born in County Carlow and the mother in County Armagh. Their marriage was solemnized in the State of. New York, and in 1835, a few months after the birth of the subject of this sketch, they came to Ohio, making the trip by way of Lake Erie and landing in the city of Toledo, which was then a diminutive village. From that point they went to Michigan, and in the following year the father came to what is now Fulton county, Ohio, purchasing 13o acres, in two tracts, in Sections 22 and 26, Royalton township. Here the family resided one year, when illness in the family circle, caused by malarial conditions, led to a return to Michigan. In 1837, however, they came again to the embryo farm in Royalton township, and Patrick Burroughs set himself vigorously to the herculean task of reclaiming the land to cultiva- 304 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY tion meeting with success as the years passed and conditions improved, through the development and rapid settling of the county, and he remained on his old homestead until his death at the age of seventy-five years his wife being seventy-three at the time of her death. They reared a family of six children : James F., to whom this sketch is dedicated; Catherine, wife of John Dowling; Alice, wife of William Mack ; Mary wife of Mathew O'Neill ; Ellen, wife of George 0. Robb; and Michael, who married Delia Dodge, and resides in Toledo, Ohio. James F. Burrough was reared on the pioneer homestead in Royalton township and being the eldest of the children he early began to assume is a full quota of responsibility, aiding his father in the clearing of the farm and otherwise contributing to the support of the family. He attended the common schools of the primitive sort common to the locality, and made specially rapid progress in his studies, while he applied himself diligently in a private way also, thus becoming eligible for effective work as a teacher. He taught fifty-nine terms of school in Fulton and Lucas counties, each term being that of the three winter months, and he also taught two terms in Missouri, where he resided about 1860, for two winters. His vocation, however, has been specifically that of farming from his youth to the present time, and he has been progressive in his methods, thus gaining the best returns from the effort expended, and his course has been such, in all the relations of life that he has ever commanded the respect and good will of those with whom he has come in contact. The aggregate area of his five farms is three hundred and twenty acres, and all are well improved, yielding a good income. In politics a stanch Democrat, Mr. Burroughs has never been neglectful of the duties and responsibilities of loyal citizenship, though never an aspirant for public office. He is a communicant of St. Mary's Catholic church, at Cararghan, Ohio, and his were parents were likewise devoted members of the Catholic church. January 21, 1861. Mr. Burroughs was united in marriage to Miss Calista Pray, daughter of Archibald and Harriet (Myers) Pray, of Whitehouse, Lucas county, and of the six children of this marriage all attained maturity : Edward W., James P., Grace, Hattie, Ella, and Frederick. Grace became the wife of Alva Edgar and is now deceased, being survived by one son, James S. Ella is the wife of William Kahle.   FRANK A. CAMBURN, a representative farmer of Royalton township, was born in the adjoining township of Seneca, in Lenawee county, Michigan on the 31st of July, 1854, and is a son of James and Lorinda (Brower) Camburn, both of whom were born and reared in Dutchess county, New York. They came from the old Empire State to Michigan and the respective families became pioneer settlers in Lenawee county, where Willis Camburn, father of James, secured one hundred and sixty acres of government land, in Seneca township, developing a good farm and remaining on the same for a number of years. He finally removed to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he passed the remainder there of his life. Jacob Brower, maternal grandfather of the sub-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 305   ject of this sketch, likewise came to Lenawee county, Michigan, from New York State, and was one of the pioneers of Fairfield township, where he developed a farm, one and one-half miles west of the village of Weston. He died in Seneca township, that county. James Camburn was reared to maturity in Lenawee county, Michigan, and upon attaining his majority purchased a tract of wild land, in Seneca township, improving the place and making it one of the valuable places of the county. That continued to be his home until his death, which occurred in 1871. He was killed by a railroad train, at Westfield, New York, while taking a carload of cattle to the Eastern markets, being forty-eight years of age at the time of his death. His widow is still living. They became the parents of nine children of whom seven are living : Minerva married Clark Standish ; Ann became the wife of Alonzo Richardson ; Almond ; William ; Frank A.; Louisa became the wife of Caleb E. Disbrow ; Elias; Hattie became the wife of Oliver Dunbar ; and Cora married Frank Carlton. Frank A. Camburn was feared to maturity in his native county and secured his educational training in the public schools, and his vocation throughout his entire adult life has been that of farming, in connection with which he has Met with gratifying success. In 1878 he took up his residence in Royalton township, where he now has a fine landed estate of two hundred and thirty-nine acres, all under effective cultivation and improved with good buildings and other essential accessories. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, supporting men and measures approved by his judgment, and fraternally he is identified with Lyons Lodge, No. 622, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both he and his wife are members of the Universalist church. October 24, 1878, Mr. Camburn was united in marriage to .Miss Sarah A. Standish, a daughter of Clark and Harriet (Smith) Standish„pioneers of Royalton township, and a descendant of the historic character, Miles Standish, the Pilgrim and the hero of the well-known poem of Longfellow, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." Mr. and Mrs. Camburn have three children: Howard, who is engaged in the grocery business at Lyons ; Ethel, who is 'the wife of Herbert Hinkle; and Edith, who is the wife of Ira Smith.   GEORGE W. CAMERON is the owner of a fine farm of eighty acres, in Pike township, and is one of the popular citizens and representative agriculturists of this section of the county. Mr. Cameron was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the loth of March, 1849, being a son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Andrews) Cameron, who removed from Wayne county to Henry county in an early day, and they passed the closing yearS of their lives in Henry county, the father having been a farmer by vocation. George W. Cameron was a child at the time of his parents' removal to Henry county, where he was reared to manhood on the farm, receiving a common-school education. He has made the basic industry of agriculture his vocation in life, and through well-directed effort has gained success of no indifferent order. In 1874 Mr. Cameron purchased a farm in Clinton township, Fulton county, retaining possession of the same for some, years, when he dis-   306 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   posed of the property and purchased his present homestead, which is the valuable farms of Pike township, the same having excellent improvements and being maintained under a high state of cultivation. He has personally effected the greater part of the permanent improvement of the place and is known as a progressive farmer and as a reliable and loyal citizen, worthy of the high regard in which he is held in the community. He is a Republican in his political proclivities, and 4th he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Ottokee. On the 4th of September, 1874, waS solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cameron to Miss Martha Howden, who was born in Fulton county, September 2, 1848, being a daughter of John and Jane (Gaston) Howden, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in New York City. They came to Fulton county in an early day, and Mr. Howden later returned to New York City, where he died on the 10th of December, 1848, and his wife passed away on the 7th of following February, their orphan daughter, Mrs. Cameron, having been reared and educated in Fulton county. One of her brothers was a valiant soldier of the Union in the War of the Rebellion, in which he sacrificed his life. Mr. and Mrs. Cameron have one daughter, Gertrude Irene, who was born February 14, 1880, and who is now the wife of Frank Waldeck, of Delta, Ohio.   WILLIAM H. CAMPBELL is a native of Fulton county, a scion of one of its well-known pioneer families and is an enterprising farmer and popular citizen of Clinton township, his well-improved homestead being located six miles northwest of the city of Wauseon. He was Clinton township, this county, on the 6th of February, 1850, born of Reason and Temperance (Cornell) Campbell, the former being of Scotch and the latter of English lineage. Reason Campbell was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1820, and he came to Fulton county in 1846, locating on a farm in Clinton township and developing the same into of valuable property, and he was one of the prominent and influential citizens of his community. He continued to reside on this homestead until his death, which occurred on the 14th of February, 1885. He served most acceptably as township trustee, and was a man at that sterling integrity and honesty of purpose which ever beget popular confidence and esteem. On the 8th of October, 1846, he was married to Miss Tethperance Cornell, at Shreve, Wayne county, his wife having been born in that county March 20, 1829, and her death occurred September 11, 1899. They came to Fulton county shortly after their marriage. They became the parents of seven sons and four daughters, and of that number three are living. William H. Campbell assisted in the reclamation of the old home farm on which he was reared, and he attended the common schools of the locality and gained a good, practical education. After his marriage he purchased and located upon his present farm, in Clinton township, the place having been partially cleared, and he has reclaimed the remainder of the land, has provided an effective system of drainage, erected substantial buildings and made the homestead one of the valuable farms of this section,   BIOGRAPHICAL - 307   and for a number of years past he has also operated a threshing machine each season, finding this enterprise profitable. Politically Mr. Campbell is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and he has served as township trustee, road supervisor and member of the school board. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Patrons of Husbandry and attends the Christian church, of which Mrs. Campbell is a member. November 13, 1874, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Mary Gasche, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, August 8, 1854, being a daughter of 4George.and Catherine (Hoenburger) Gasche. Her father was born Wetzlar, Prussia, May 2, 1819, and in 1832 he immigrated to Amer.ica, locating in Cumberland county, Pa., in 1834, and thence coming to Ohio in 1840, locating in Holmes county, where he remained until April 18, 1855, when he came with his family to Fulton county, purchasing land in Clinton township, where he passed the remainder of his life. On January 1, 1847, he married Mrs. Catherine (Hoenberger) Gasche, widow of his brother William, and she is still living, residing with her daughter, Amelia Sower, wife of S. H. Sower, in German township. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have three children: Lulu, born March 20, 1876, is the wife of John E. Plettner, of Clinton township ; Nettie A., born February 2, 1881, is the wife of Levi Barton, and they reside in Dover township; George, born January 30, 1885, is associa with his father in the operation of the home farm.   ARTHUR B. CANFIELD, one of the extensive farmers and influential business men of Fulton county, was born in Chesterfield township, this county, on the 9th of August, 1859, and is a son of Heman A. and Amanda G. (Brown) Canfield. The father was born in West Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., on the 25th of January, 186, and he was reared and educated in the old Empire State. In 1838 he came to Fulton county, Ohio, where he purchased land and erected a house of the primItive type common to the pioneer days. He then returned to New York, whence he brought his family to the new home in the spring of 1839. They remained resident of Chesterfield township until 186o, when they removed to a farm in Gorham township, where the father was engaged in•agricultural pursuits until about six years prior to his death, having passed the closing years of his life in Fayette, retired from active business. His death there occurred on the loth of May, 1901. He was a man of much ability and was prominent in public affairs of a local nature, and he held various offices. He served for a number of years as justice of the peace in Chesterfield township, acquiring an excellent knowledge of the law, and his friends and neighbors showed unlimited confidence in his judgment and sense of justice, his services being in much requisition in the trial of minor cases. He and his wife were leading members of the Grange of Fulton county for more than thirty years, and they were held in unqualified regard by all who knew them. Mrs. Canfield was a prominent member of the. Presbyterian church at Fay- ette at the time of her death.   308 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   For eight years Heman A. Canfield operated a saw-mill in the southeastern part of Gorham township, doing an extensive business, as timber was very plentiful in this section at that time. During the Civil war he was clerk in the quartermaster's department, as was also his son Henry. His grandfather, Titus Canfield, was a soldier in the War of 1812. The latter was a son of Daniel Canfield, who was born in Connecticut, of stanch Colonial stock, and who was numbered among the pioneers of Ontario county, N. Y. He served with the Connecticut troops in the War of the Revolution, and the subject of this sketch has in his possession and prizes as a valued heirloom the musket which his great-grandfather carried during his military service in the cause of independence. On the brass trimmings of the weapon is found the following inscription, "Dan Canfield, 1778." Amanda G. (Brown) Canfield was likewise born and reared in Ontario county, N. Y., where was solemnized her marriage to Heman A. Canfield, and she died on the 26th of March, 1901, at the age of eighty-one years. Of the six children in the family the following is a brief record: Delia is the wife of John W. Smith, of Fremont, N. H.; Henry Titus is a resident of Wichita Falls, Tex.; Ellen is the wife of D. Anderson Bennett, of Chico, Cal.; Clara is the wife of Dr. Henry D. Kurtz, of Allentown, Pa.; Edward Theodore is a resident of Pettisville, Fulton county; and Arthur Brown is the immediate sub ject of this review. Arthur B. Canfield passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and after attending the district schools until he had mastered the fundamental branches of learning he continued his studies in the normal schools at Bryan, Ohio, and Valparaiso, Ind., and he taught seven terms of school in his native county, being very successful in his pedagogic endeavors. He has been actively identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present time, having initiated his independent operations in the line upon attaining his legal majority, and having been associated with his father in his farming industry for twenty years prior to the death of the latter. He now has a fine landed estate of three liundred and fifty-six acres, the entire property being under his direct personal management, and he employs competent men to assist in the practical details of the work. Mr. Canfield is a stockholder in the Chappel Furnace Company, of Morenci, Mich., and is one of the stock-holders of the Fulton County Co-operative Company, of Fayette, which has a large general store, being president of the company at the present time. For the past six years he has been president of the Fulton County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Association. In politics Mr. Canfield is a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he has served in various local offices, being at this time president of the school-board of Gorham township. He is an active member of the Grange and is affiliated with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Fayette. October 5, 1881, Mr. Canfield was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Stowell, who was born in Chatham, Medina county, Ohio, October 13, 1858, being) a daughter of William H. and Nancy E. (Blake) Stowell, old and respected resi-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 309   dents of Fulton county, and the children of this union are five in number, namely: Ada, Heman A., Iva, Carolyn, and Hale H.   CHARLES W. CARREL, a veteran of the Civil war and for a number of years prominently identified with railroading business, is now one of the enterprising farmers of Royalton township, within whose limits he was born, being a member of a well-known pioneer family of Fulton township. He was born in Lyons, this township August 25, 1846, a son of Daniel and Lucina M. (Welsh) Carrel, both of whom were natives of the State of New York. The father settled in Royalton township in 1846, shortly before the birth of his son, Charles W., taking up eighty acres of land, in Section 16, reclaim the same from the forest wilds and disposing of the property in 1866. for fifty dollars an acre, a fact which indicates that he had put fourth marked energy and ability in conserving its development and improvement. He then removed to Quincy, Branch county, Mich., where he was engaged in the hotel business seven years, at the expiration of which he removed to Allegan county, that State, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, his wife also dying in that county, and both lie at rest in the cemetery at Lyons, Fulton county, Ohio. They reared seven sons, namely: Charles W., Chester J., Eugene J., Chauncey C., Isaac W., Alfred D., and Thomas B. Chester Eugene and Alfred are deceased. Hustus Welsh, maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was a pioneer of Royalton towns where he continued to reside until his death. Charles W. Carrel grew to maturity on the home farm in this township, and is indebted to the common schools of the locality for his early educational, privileges. Upon attaining his majority he secured a position as local night watchman for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, and he rose step by step until he was made incumbent of the responsible position of station agent, in which capacity he served six years, having been identified with railroading affairs for a total of eighteen years. In 1887 he located on the Edson farm, in Royalton township, where he has since been successfully engaged in general farming and stock-growing. In 1864, when eighteen years of age, Mr. Carrel enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front and served one hundred and forty days, principally on skirmishing and guard duty, being honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He is a popular member of Baxter Post, No. 238, G. A. R., at Lyons, and of the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Kendallville, Ind., where he was stationed for some time during his railroad career. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. In 187o, Mr. Carrel was united in marriage to Miss Marian A. Edson, daughter of Ichabod and Jane (Fenner) Edson pioneers of Royalton township, where Mr. Edson cleared and improved the farm now occupied by the subject of this sketch. He and his wife here resided until death, interment being made in the Lyons cemetery. His first wife having died, Mr. Carrel married Mrs. Sarah Goodwin, of Delta, Ohio. To this union no children have been born, but Mrs.   310 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   Carrel by a former marriage is the mother of a daughter—Mrs. Belle Bartley, of Norwalk, Ohio. Mrs. Carrel is a member of the M. E. church at Delta.   CLYDE 0. CASTLE, B. S., superintendent of schools of Swanton, was born at Whitehouse, Lucas county, 0., on August 31, 1873. He is the son of Jehiel and Lorinda (Norris) Castle, the former born in Erie county, Ohio, in 1837, and the latter in Genesee county, N. Y., in 1842. Lorinda Castle died at Swanton on March 25, 1903. To these parents were born five children, four sons and one daughter. They are: Charles N., a railroad conductor at Salt Lake City, Utah; John N., a resident of Quartz, Cal., where he is engaged in the transfer business ; Clyde 0.; George F., a locomotive engineer at Norfolk, Neb., and Carrie E., a teacher in the public schools of Waterville, Lucas county. Clyde 0. Castle received his elementary education in the public schools of Whitehouse, after which he entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada, in 1896, and graduated from the scientific course of that institution with the class of 1901. During his collegiate course he was also engaged in teaching, being thus employed for about two yeaxs while attending college. After serving one year as principal of the Swanton. schools, and for a like period of time as superintendent of the Waterville schools, he was, in 1902, elected superintendent of schools at Swanton for a period of two kears. His administration was so satisfactory to, the patrons and school authorities that he was last year reappointed .for a second period of two years. The school curriculum embraces a high-school course of four years. The three hundred pupils in attendance are in charge of eight teachers, including the superintendent. Recently a new school-building has been erected at a cost, of about $40,000. This building is modern in all of its appointments, being steam heated, with blast ventilation, and is pronounced to be one of the finest in. Northwestern Ohio. Clyde 0. Castle is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in Swanton Lodge, No 555, Free and Accepted Masons Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, Delta ; Wauseon Council, No. 68, R. & S. M., and Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Swanton lodge, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is affiliated with the Republican party, and in September, 1903, was appointed for a term of three years one of the school examiners of Fulton county.   ALFRED A. CHATFIELD merits representation in this work by reason of his standing as one of the popular and successful farmers honored citizens of Pike township, where he has a well-improved farm of eighty acres. Mr. Chatfield was born in the neighboring county of Hillsdale, Michigan, on the 28th of November; 1851, but has passed the major portion of his life in Fulton county, where his father took up his residence in 1858, his mother having died in Hillsdale county. Mr. Chatfield is a son of Joel L. and Catherine (Heckle) Chatfield, the former of whom devoted his life to farming, and was one of the prosperous farmers of Fulton county, but he now resides   BIOGRAPHICAL - 311   on a farm in Gentry county, Mo. Alfred A. Chatfield was reared to manhood in this county, in whose common schools he secured his educational training, and in his youth he learned the blacksmith trade, Which he followed as a vocation for a quarter of a century, during the greater portion of which time he was established in business where he now resides. In 1882 he located on his present farm, and the same Astiergy and enterprise which conserved his success as a general blacklaniith have characterized his efforts as a farmer, so that he has been unsuccessful in his operations and is known as one of the representative citizens and stock-growers of Pike township. In politics Mr. Chatfield independent and votes for the best man. Mr. Chatfield is a member of the famous insuranoe organization, known as the Gleaners. On Isnuary 19, 1879, he chose as his life companion Ella M. Graves, the daughter of Marvin B. and Mariett (Kilom) Graves. To this union one child, Ida M., was born, on May 20, 1880, and she is now the wife of Louis Fouty and resides on a farm in Pike township.   CAREY A. CLARK is another of the progressive and successful young farmers of Fulton county who have here resided from the time Of birth and have upheld the prestige of the agricultural industry in this section. He was born on the farm which is now his home, in Amboy township, on the 7th of August, 1875, being a son of George D and Susan Matilda (Bair) Clark, the former having been a son of David Clark, who was born in Massachusetts, of old colonial stock, and who became one of the pioneer farmers near Huntington, Lorain county, Ohio. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch liras a pioneer of Medina county, Ohio. George D. Clark was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Mass., October 23, 1839, and his wife was born at Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, December 25, 1844, and her death occurred July 7, 1897, their marriage having been solemnized September 26, 1860. They became the parents of five children, last of whom three are living—William 0., Carey A. and Alcestia, the last named being the wife of George A. Pifer. After his marriage to Suean M. Bair George D. Clark resided in Medina county, Ohio, about five years, having cane to Fulton county about 1865 and there settled in Amboy township, where he secured one hundred and fifty acres of land, a large portion of which he reclaimed from the forest, developing one of the valuable farms of the county. He resided on this homestead until 1890, when he retired, taking up his abode in a pleasant home in Swanton, where he died on the 8th of January, 1904, in his sixty-fifth year. January 1, 1900, he consummated a second marriage, wedding Sarah Colbath, of Bangor, Maine, who survives him. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church, with which he was identified for nearly a half century, and he was one of the prominent farmers and honored citizens of Amboy township. Carey A. Clark was born and bred on the old homestead farm which has been his home thus far through life. He completed the curriculum of the public schools and thereafter took a course in the Normal School at Fayette. He has never severed his allegiance to the life of the farm and is consistently   312 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   designated as a model farmer. For three years he was also engaged in the manufacture of cheese at Metamora, but has closed out his interests in this line. The home farm is improved with excellent buildings and is maintained under a high state of cultivation, and Mr. Clark also gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, finding a due combination of the two departments of enterprise the most profitable. He is a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, though never an aspirant for office, and he is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. February 28, 1898, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Carrie A. Crockett, daughter of Almon and Sarah J. (Wilmot) Crockett, of Lenawee county, Mich. The only child of this union was Ethel Fay, who died in infancy.   WILLIAM R. CLARK, a prominent and highly-successful veterinary surgeon of Wauseon, was born in Clinton township, Fulton county, its 1862. He is the son of John A. and Elizabeth (Krontz) Clark, both natives of Ohio. John A. Clark was the son of Ebenezer and (Dey) Clark, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Ohio, having been born in Holmes county in 18oi. John A. Clark was a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation, in both of which callings he was very successful. He came to Wauseon in 1839, being one of the pioneer settlers of that section of the country. His farm of one hundred and eighty acres is one of the most valuable and productive in the county. The accumulation of so much fine land proves that he was possessed of thrift and enterprise. He died at his home place in March, 1890, aged sixty years. At the time he came to Wauseon with his parents be was only twelve years old. Elizabeth Clark, the wife of John A., is the daughter of Mr. Krontz of German township, Fulton county, was came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. She is still living, having reached the ripe age of seventy-one years. Grandmother Dey, the daughter of William Dey, traces her ancestors back to the arrival of the Mayflower. The children of John E. and Elizabeth Clark, other than our subject, are: James M., a farmer residing in Clinton township; Noah, a farmer of the same township; S. J., connected with the Wauseon Brick and Tile company, and Elizabeth J., now Mrs. Ben Morningstar, of Clinton township. William R. Clark, the subject of this sketch, received a liberal education in his home schools. After completing his education he devoted his time for the next ten years to the breeding and training of race horses. So successful was he in this business that not a few horses with fine records were developed by his training. At this time he decided to become a veterinary surgeon, for whose services there was then a great demand. The fact is that the future success of stock-raising depends largely on the work of the veterinary surgeon. His knowledge of horses, as well as his experieetee in training them, is of great assistance to Dr. Clark in the practice at, his profession. In 1898 he graduated from the Ontario Veterinary a:MEV and the McPherson Veterinary Dental college, both located at Thmnt, Canada. Immediately after graduating he passed success-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 313   fully the examination of the Ohio State Veterinary board. Locating at Wauseon, he applied himself diligently to his chosen work, and the result is that he has built up a large and lucrative practice. His field of operations is not limited to Wauseon, but extends to all parts of Fulton and the adjoining counties. His services are in great demand, for he is recognized by all as a thoroughly competent practitioner in his line. Dr. Clark, together with his fellow veterinary surgeons, has done much to popularize the profession in this part of the State. In the successful treatment of the various diseases of animals they mere have demonstrated that their calling is indeed a profession, and not a mere theory. He married Miss Leah Hine, daughter of Joseph Hine, a pioneer settler of Clinton township. The names of the children of Mr. And Mrs. Clark are Misola and Harold. With the thorough training that he has received and with the high degree of success he has attained, Dr. Clark is sure to continue to rise and to grow in favor with his fellow-men. Merit is readily recognized by the observing classes, and surely the Doctor possesses it in a high degree.   MARTIN COONEY, who is now identified with the rural free mail delivery service, being carrier on Route No. 15, from the village of Fayette, is one of the popular residents of this section and is an honored veteran of the Civil war, his health having been permanently impaired through the privations and other hardships which he endured while in service. He was born in Seneca county, N. Y. July 14, 1837, being a son of Henry and Rachel (Landis) Cooney, who were born in Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Seneca county, N. Y., where they remained until 1855, when they Carne td Ohio and took up their residence in Fulton county, where they passe( the remainder of their lives. Martin Cooney attended the common schools of his native county, and early learned the lessons of industry finding employment in various capacities. He accompanied his par ents on their removal to Ohio, and at the time of the outbreak c the War of the Rebellion he was serving as section foreman on th Air Line division of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad continuing thus engaged until the spring of 1864, on the 1st of Marc of which year he enlisted as a private in Company B, Sixtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he participated in the battle of th Wilderness, and in the conflicts of North Anna River, Spottsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, and in the siege of Petersburg. He was identified with the placing of the mines by which the Weldc Rgilroad was destroyed, and on the 3oth of September, 1864, Poplar Grove church, he was captured, his regiment having been driven into the swamps of that locality. He was conveyed to the notorious Libby prison, in the city of Richmond, and about a fort-night later was taken to the stockade prison in Salisbury, North Carolina, where he was confined about five months, his exchange have been effected February 22, 1865. He weighed one hundred and sixty-seven pounds when captured, and when released his weight was ninety pounds. He reached the Union lines about March 15th, Wilmington, North Carolina, and was then sent home on an invalid   314 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   furlough, before the expiration of which the war was ended by the surrender of General Lee. He received his honorable discharge at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, on the 6th of June, 1865. He then returned to Fulton county, passing the ensuing two years in Pettisville and being practically incapacitated for any employment during this interval, by reason of disabilities resulting from his prison life, during which he contracted rheumatism. Thereafter he followed farming two years and then took up his residence in Fayette, where lie followed various lines of occupation, being in impaired health much of the time. He was employed in Allen's grist-mill for ten years and then secured the star-route mail contract between Fayette and Spring Hill, being engaged in the transportation of the mail on this route until it was discontinued, after a period of five years. Since 1900 he has served in his present position as carrier in the rural free mail delivery service. He is a stalwart Republican, and served for some time as constable in Fayette, and he is a charter member of Stout Post, No. 108, Grand Army of the Republic. September 21, 1858, Mr. Cooney was united in marriage to Miss Susan Downer, of Union City, Branch county, Michigan, her father, Orimel Downer, having been an early settler in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Cooney became the parents of five children, namely: Marietta, who is the wife of Henry Pickard, of Mount Alton, Pennsylvania; Alfred, who is now a resident of Fayette; Cora, who is the wife of Harvey Russell, of Fayette; Leo, who also resides in this village; and Elizabeth, who died at the age of three years. Mrs. Cooney is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 6, at Fayette, and is a member of the Disciple church.   LOUIE C. COSGROVE, M. D.--Among the practicing physicians artd surgeons of Swanton, none stands higher, either in a social or professional way, than Dr. Louie C. Cosgrove. He is the only living son of the nestor of physicians, Dr. S. F. Cosgrove, who for more than thirty years has practiced so successfully in this vicinity. Dr. S. F. Cosgrove was educated in the medical colleges at Cleveland and Cincinnati, graduating from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery in 1875. With the exception of eight years spent in Sylvania and Toledo, he has been in constant practice in Swanton. Dr. S. F. Cosgrove was married to Miss Allie J. Cooper, a native of Ohio, and both are still living, being residents of Swanton. Louie C. Cosgrove was barn in Swanton, on August 6, 1879. He received his elementary education in the public schools of his native town, and in 1896 graduated from the Fayette (0.) Normal University. In 1897 he entered the Toledo Medical college and completed the prescribed course of that institution on April 26, 1901. With the prestige of a well-established practice by his father as a foundation, he has been singularly successful in his professional work. In 1903 he took a post-graduate course in Chicago Polyclinic hospital, covering the topics of Gynecology, Dermatology, General Surgery and Obstetrics. Both he and his father are active members of the Fulton county and the Ohio State medical asso-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 315   ciations. In the counsels of Free Masonry Dr. L. C. Cosgrove is well need, advance holding membership in Swanton Lodge, No. 555. Free and Accepted Masons ; OctaviuS Waters Chapter, No. 154, Royal Arch Masons, of Delta; Wauseon Council, No. 68, Royal and Select Masons, Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, and Zenobia Temple, Ancient Arabic order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Forresters, the Modern Woodmen of America, and Knights of Pythias, at Swanton, for each of which organizations he has been medical examiner. In his political views the Boctor is a Republican, taking an active part in the deliberations of the party. At present he is identified with both the executive and central committees of Fulton county, and in November, 1905, he was elected coroner of Fulton county for a term of two years, by a majority of 1,176.   GEORGE LEWIS COTTINGHAM, who is an expert machinist, conducting a well-equipped general shop in Delta, and also owning a valuable little farm adjoining the town, has here passed the greater portion of his life and is one of the representative business men of this part of the county. He is a native of England, having been born on the 27th of December, 1864, and having been about seven years of age at the time of his parents' immigration to America. He is a son of Leorge W. and Elizabeth Cottingham, who took up their residence in Delta in 1871. For many years George W. Cottingham operated an ashery in Delta, meeting with marked success in this field of enterprise, which was then one of importance. The sale of wood-ashes was a very considerable source of income to the pioneers, and Mr. Cottingham was one of the first to engage in the buying of this commodity in Fulton county, and thus he proved in a sense a benefactor to the community, as many of the settlers depended largely upon the sale of ashes for the securing of little luxuries which they would otherwise have been compelled to deny themselves. He manufactured the products into pearl-ash, having a large plant devoted to this industry and acquiring what was considered in that day a goodly fortune. He was born in Swarford, England, and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Larder, was also born m the same locality, where their marriage was solemnized. With their six children they came to America, and they took up their residence in Delta in 1871. The father rented one hundred and twenty acres of land and engaged in farming, in connection with his other business enterprises, having purchased the ashery from Josiah 0. Gates, a well-known pioneer, and having also handled lime, cement, salt and other commodities of the sort. The farm which he originally cultivated embraced most of the present site of Delta, and in later years he purchased the small farm which is now occupied by his son, George L., subject of this sketch, erecting the present fine buildings on the place and here continuing to reside until his death, in 1903, his wife having passed away in the same year which witnessed their arrival in Fulton county, 1871. The six children are all living, namely: Elizabeth, Emma, William, George Lewis, Anna and Ada. All are married except Ada. Emma resides in North Baltimore, Ohio,   316 - HISTORY OF FULTON. COUNTY   William is a resident of Leipsic, this State; and. Anna has her home in Avilla, Ind., the other three being residents of Delta. George Lewis Cottingham was reared in Fulton county, working on the home farm and in his father's ashery until he had attained maturity and having duly availed. himself of the advantages of the public schools of this section. He was a steam engineer for a period of eight years and then served an apprenticeship at the machinists' trade, becoming a paseissdarly skilled artisan in the line, his practical apprenticeship having beery secured in shops at Deshler, Henry county. In 1892 he renamed,. to. Delta and here established a general machine-shop on the site of the oktashery, and he has built up a very successful enterprise, his mechanical-skill and careful attention to the demands of patrons havinggained. for him a wide reputation throughout this section, and his shops has the best machinery and other requisite accessories for the facile turning out of high-grade work. About 1893 he purchased the lee now occupied by the establishment of the Atlas Publishing company, erecting the present substantial brick building; which has been utilized-by that company for more than ten years- and which withstood a-disastrous fire which destroyed buildings on either side of it Mr. Cottingham sold this property is 1904. His handsome home occupies sew:minding eminence, overlooking the village of Delta, and is one the-most attractive places in this section of the county, In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he is loyal to all the duties of citizenship, taking a deep interest in all that makes for the well-being of his home town and county. On the 5th of October, 1899, Mr. Cottitigham amass united' in marriage to Miss Jennie Warfield, daughter of Rev. L. N. Warfield. a clergyman of the United Brethren church, now resident of Vent Wert, Ohio., Mr. and Mrs. Cottingharn, have two children, Cessarandgianley, the latter dying: when he was about eighteen months.   EDWARD B. COTTRELL, who is engaged iir the buying and shipping. of live-stock; is a native. of Fulton county having been, born. on the homestead farm, in Royalton township; on the: lath: of October; 1871, and: being a son of Austin and, Lucinda (Richandson) Cottrell was the former of whom was born in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio, and the latter in Royalton township, Fulton county: Austin Cottrell was a son of John and Betsy (Preston) Cottrell, and the family came to Fulton county in the early '6o's. John Cottrell purchased eighty acres of land in Section 11, Royalton township, clearing; a portion, of the same and there passing the remainder of his life. His five childre are here named in order of birth: Asa; Jacob, Duella, Polly; and Austin. Polly is the wife of Thomas Ferguson. Austin Cottrell was rested to, the discipline of the farm, and in initiating his independent career continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits; in which line of enterprise he was successful. He died on the 22d: of February, 1900, at the age of fifty-five years, and his widow now resides on the old homestead in Royalton. township. Three children, were born to them—Estella, who is the wife of Stephen S. Lawrence, a farmer of   BIOGRAPHICAL - 317   Fulton county ; Edith, who is now deceased; and Edward B., who is the immediate subject of this review. Lucinda (Richardson) Cottrell it a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Fulton county. She is a daughter of Hiram and Mary Ann Richardson, and her father settled in Royalton township in 1836, being a son of Thomas, who was the head of the family as represented in the pioneer Inials of Fulton county. The latter was born in Niagara county, New York, a son of Thomas, Sr., a native of Vermont and one of the early settlers of Niagara county, New York. Edward B. Cottrell was reared on the homestead farm, in Royalton township, and duly availed himself of the privileges of the public schools. He early became asso' elated in the stock-buying and shipping operations of his father, and Since the latter's death, in 1900, he has been successfully engaged in this line of business in an independent way. He is a stanch Democrat, and in a fraternal way is identified with Lyons Lodge, No. 8346, Mod- ern Woodmen of America. October 11, 1894, Mr. Cottrell was united in marriage to Miss Winnie F. Bennett, daughter of Ora and Elizabeth (Brockway) Bennett, of Lenawee. county,. Michigan, and they have one daughter, Vera.   FRANK R. CRIPPEN, one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of the younger generation in Fulton county, being the owner of a fine property in Fulton township, is a native of the patrician Old Dominion State and a scion of one of its honored families on the maternal side, while the paternal ancestors were numbered among the early settlers m New England and later in the State of New York. Mr. Crippen was born in Dranesville, Fairfax county, Va., on the 6th of April, 1863, at which time that section was the scene of some of the most sanguinary contests between the Union and Confederate forces. He is a son of Minor A. and Miriam (Knight) Crippen, the former of whom was born in the State of New York and the latter in Virginia, in which latter Minor A., Crippen died at the age of eighty-four years. The old home estate was in sight of the famous Bull Run battlefield. The Knight family was one of the old and distinguished ones of Virginia, and in ante-bellum days a large retinue of slaves was retained on the fine old home plantation, a heavy loss being thus entailed by the emancipation of the slaves, as well as through the general ravages of the war. The old estate, comprising seven hundred acres, was the birthplace of Mr. Crippen and was one of the beautiful and valuable places of Fairfax county in the days before the war, but such have been the changes in conditions that the property is almost worthless at the present time, neglect and deterioration being evident on every side, from causes beyond the control of the owners. Within the past two years Mr. Crippen, subject of this review, sold eighty acres of the tract for only four hundred dollars. Minor A. and Miriam Crippen became the parents of four sons, Americus N., Henry A., Frank R. and Asa M. All of the sons are living with the exception of Americus, who was a member of the metropolitan police in the city of Washington and who was shot and killed while in discharge of his official duties. His widow still resides in the national capital. Mr. Crippen's mother died   318 - HISTORY OP FULTON COUNTY   December 14 1874, in Fairfax couy, Va. Frank R. Crippen secured his early education in a private academy in his native town, and at the age eighteen years he came to Ohio, where he found employment principally at farm work. In Fulton county he was married in 1886, and for the ensuing two years he was engaged in farming on land he rented, and he then, in 1889, located on his present farm, purchasing the property. The place comprises sixty-two acres, and is maintained under effective cultivation, being improved with a good made house, a large and well equipped barn and other buildings. In addition to raising the various crops common to the locality Mr. Crippen has for the past three years devoted considerable attention to the propagation of sugar-beets, to which he gives twenty acres of his land. From this crop he has netted thirty dollars an acre above expenses. from He is ever ready to adopt new methods and ideas that promise to facilitate the work of his farm and increase its profits, and is one of the alert and progressive agriculturists of the county. In politics he is an active and uncompromising Republican, though never a seeker of office, and his religious faith is that of the United Brethren church, and his wife is a member of the Christian Union church. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Swanton lodge No. 528, of the I. 0. 0. F., andi with the Encampment of the order at Delta, and also with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees at Swanton, and he has a host of friends in the community where he has proven so worthy a citizen. October 27, 1886, Mr. Crippen was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Dennis, who was horn and reared in Fulton township, being a daughter of Philip and Eunice (Welch) Dennis, who were representatives of early pioneer families of the township, where the former's parents, Joseph and. Mary Dennis, took up their residence in 1834. Their descendants in Fulton county now number fully one hundred and fifty. Mr. and Mrs. Crippen have two children, Floyd C. and Florence, aged respectively eighteen and sixteen years in 1905.   WILLIAM W. CRONINGER, editor and publisher of the Democraticc Expositor of Fulton county, was born in Richland township, Huren county. He is the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Upps) Croninger, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. Jonathan Croninger removed from Huron county to Fulton county in 1866, having held many offices in that county, In 1843 he married Miss Elizabeth Upps and by her had the following children : Lorenzo D., Francis D., William W., who is the subject of this sketch, Delphena and Florence. Jonathan, who was born in 1820, was the son of Jacob and Mary Croninger, both natives of Pennsylvania. They first settled in Stark county, 0., then in Huron county, where Jacob died. His widow afterwards removed to Fulton county and died there. Their marriage was blessed with fourteen children. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his native township and those of the city of Wauseon and Bryan. While Frying on his farm in Clinton township he taught school for eleven winters. When he was   BIOGRAPHICAL - 319   appointed deputy sheriff by Daniel Dowling he moved into the county jail and occupied it for two years. In 1889 he was elected county auditor and administered the duties of the office so satisfactorily that He was re-elected in 1892 by an increased majority. He was elected as a Democrat in a county that generally gave a Republican majority of from twelve to fifteen hundred. After leaving the auditor's office she spent two years on his farm, enjoying a much needed rest. In 1899 he removed to Wauseon and purchased the Democratic Expositor, orwhich he has since published and edited. In 1875 he married Miss Rebecca J. Robinson. They have two children, named Edna G. and Gwendolin. A. B. Robinson, the father of the wife of the subject of .this sketch, was both teacher and farmer and for a time engineer of Fulton county. He was born in Wayne county September 28, 1825. After graduating from Edinburg academy, Wayne county, he taught -school successfully for twenty-eight years. On June 17, 1847, he married Miss Nancy Hutchinson, who was born in Wayne county. in 1824. Her parents originally came from Pennsylvania. George and Sarah (Fluhart) Robinson, the parents of A. B. Robinson, were natives of Wayne county, where George died in 1846, aged fifty-one years. At the age of twenty years A. B. Robinson was elected justice of the peace of his home county. Since coming to Fulton county, he has served in the same capacity for eighteen years. He was a delegate to the State convention in 1854.   DAVID CRUMRINE is a representative of a family which was founded in Ohio within a few years after the State was admitted to the Union and he is one of the progressive and substantial farmers of Franklin township, where he has a well-improved farm and attractive home. He was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, January 13, 1847, and is a son of Frederick and Christena (Routsong) Crumrine, the former of whom was born in Mahoning county, July 3, 1809, and the latter was born in Germany and was a child at the time of her parents immigration to America. The Crumrine family likewise is of German origin and was founded in Pennsylvania prior to the War of the Revolution. Frederick Crumrine was engaged in farming in Mahoning county until 1854, when he disposed of his property there, and on the 12th of September of that year he located in Franklin township, Fulton county, purchasing the farm now owned and occupied by his son David. He secured ninety acres, for which he paid nineteen dollars an acre, in gold. He developed and improved the farm, which continued to be his home until his death, on the 5th of November, 1899. His first wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, died when the latter was but sixteen days old, on the 29th of January, 1847, and the father later consummated a second marriage, children of the second marriage surviving him, but of the first marriage David was the only child. Receiving his educational training in the common schools, David Crumrine was reared to the discipline of the farm, remaining associated with his father in the work of the homestead place until he had reached his legal majority. He purchased a farm near Bryan, Williams county, but after his father's death, at the request of other   320 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   members of the family, he returned to Fulton county and purchased the old homestead, where he has since continued to reside, having disposed his farm in Williams county. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Telephone Company, of Fulton county. Though never a seeker of office he is a public-spirited citizen and has been a supporter of the principles and cause of the Democratic party from the time of attaining the right of franchise. October 24, 1869, Mr. Crumrine was united in marriage to Miss Mary Clifton, of West Unity, Williams county, a daughter of John R. Clifton, a pioneer of that county. They have one child, Charles Franklin, who remains at the parental home.   ELI CUNNINGHAM, one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township, was born on the farm which is now his home the date of his nativity having been July 10, 1859. He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Munson) Cunningham, the former of whom horn in Chippewa township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 28th of March, 1827, and the latter was born in Spencer township, Lucas county, about a mile distant from her present home, on the 29th of July, 1836. They were married August 29, 1854, and began their domestic life on the homestead farm, where they now reside, and in August, 1904, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, the occasion being a notable one in the community. They are well presented severed in both mental and physical faculties, and have the abiding friendship of all who know them and have cognizance of their worthy earnest lives. Both are devoted members of the United Brethren and the father has been a stanch Supporter of the Republican party from the time of its organization to the present. In 1863 he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, for a term of one 'hundred and thirty days, and he was in active service in Virginia, participating in a number of important engagements and he receives a pension in recognition of disabilities resulting from his army service. Of the seven children of Jacob and Elizabeth Cunningham five are living. Levi owns and operates a saw-mill and feed-mill at Maltby Mills, Geauga county; Eli was the second in order of birth; Aden and Amy are twins, the former being a steam-fitter by vocation and being a resident of Toledo, and the latter is wife of Eli L. Slough, of Defiance, Ohio; Martha J. is the wife of James M. Dennis, of Fulton township; Elizabeth died at the age of ten years and one child died in infancy. Eli Cunningham secured his educational training in the public schools of Fulton county, and he has always been identified with agricultural pursuits in his native township, being now the active manager of the old homestead farm. In politics he has followed in the footsteps of his honored father and is aligned as a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and his religious membership is with the United Brethren church, of which his wife is also a member. June 14., 1887, Mr. Cunningham was united in marriage to Miss Sadie T. Merrill, who was born in Casnovia, Kent county, Mich., November 24, 1868, and her family history is fully detailed in the sketch of the life of P. C. Merrill, on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Cunning-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 321   ham have two children—Ella E. and Gladys E., both of whom are attending the home schools.   ORRIN WATSON CURTIS, the efficient postmaster of Swanton, is a native of Fulton county, having been born in Fulton township on March 1, 1871. He is the son of Newton and Abigail (Showers) Curtis, both natives of New York State. His grandfather, George Curtis, was the son of John Curtis, a Revolutionary hero. Newton Curtis was born in Orleans county, N. Y., in 1831, and came with his parents, in 1836, to what is now Fulton county, 0. He spent his productive years in the manufacture of brick in Swanton, where he and .his wife, who was born in 1836, are now living. They are the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, all except one daughter still living. The names are : George S., a resident of Huntington, Ind., where he is engaged in the railroad business ; Ida D., who married O S. Allen and died at Metamora, this county, leaving three children ; Hattie, the wife of R. S. Watkins, a farmer of Swan Creek township; 'Frank J., a merchant of Swanton; Clemon E., a retired farmer, having 'operated an extensive dairy business at Swanton for many years; and Orrin W. Orrin Watson Curtis grew to manhood on a farm and received his education in the public schools of Swanton. For a number of years he was employed as clerk in a mercantile establishment. Then he and his brother Clemon purchased the home farm and operated that as an extensive dairy busmess for some years. While thus engaged Mr: Curtis established the ice business in Swanton, constructing a large ice pond on the farm. Next he sold his farming interests and entered the employ of George D. Spaulding, then postmaster and merchant in Swanton. For three and one-half years he served as a clerk in the postoffice, after which, in 1897, he was appointed postmaster, then a fourth-class office. When, on January 3o, 1901, he received his commission of President McKinley, he had advanced the business Sufficiently to have it recognized as a third-class office. On January 29, 1905, he was appointed for the third time. Under the jurisdiction of 0. W. Curtis five rural free delivery routes from this office have been established. He has also taken an active interest in establishing the system throughout the county. In politics he has always taken an active part, but has never sought official honors other than that of postmaster. Mr. Curtis is prominently connected with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was worshipful master for two years; Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 54, of Delta, Wauseon Council, No. 68, Royal Arch Masons, and Toledo Commandery, Not 7, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Lodge No. 588, Knights of Pythias, and a member of the Uniform Rank. On August 24, 1893, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie C., the daughter of Harmon and Melvina (Bechtel) Farner, of an old and prominent family of Lucas county. She was born in Spencer township, Lucas county. To 0. W. Curtis and wife there has been born one son, Farner W., a lad of nine years.   322 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   ROBERT H. BETTS, a well-known retired citizen of Archbold, is an honored veteran of the Civil war, having the distinction of having been the first man to enlist from German township, this county. He was born in the town of Digby, Nova Scotia, still one of the principal seats of the fisheries of that section, on the 7th of June, 1842, being a son of John L. and Sarah Ann (Pryor) Betts, the former of whom was born in New Brunswick and the latter in Philadelphia, Pa. The father of .John L. Betts died in St. Johns, New Brunswick, aged seventy-seven years; his mother was eighty years old at time of death, and his grandmother on the paternal side attained the age of ninety-two. In New York city John L. Betts was married to Sarah Ann Pryor, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Pryor, the former a preacher in the Society of Friends, who died in Vineland, N. J., aged ninety-two years. The early married life of John L. and Sarah Ann Betts was attended with much poverty and deprivation, and he made a somewhat precarious living for his family by his labors as a fisherman in. Nova Scotia and elsewhere. He finally set sail with his wife and their nine children, in a small fishing boat, in which they made the long and perilous voyage from Digby, Nova Scotia, to New York city, a distance of nearly one thousand miles, landing at the old Novelty wharf in safety but practically penniless. Mr. Betts sold the boat for twelve dollars and this sum provided for the immediate necessities of the family. This long and eventful voyage was made in 1842, the year which marked the birth of Robert H. Betts, subject of this review. From New York the family came west to what is now Fulton county, Ohio, settling in the wilds of German township, which was then in Lucas county. The father secured a tract of government land, three miles west of the present village of Archbold, and here he became a prosperous farmer and honored citizen, continuing his residence in the township until his death, in 1900, at the patriarchal age of ninety-five years. His devoted wife passed away in 1883. Robert H. was the youngest of the nine children, and only one other than himself is living, Hiram L., who resides in Stryker, Williams county. Robert H. Betts was reared to the age of eleven years on the old pioneer homestead in German township, receiving limited educational advantages and early initiating his independent career. He left home at the age of eleven years and was employed at various occupations in this section until the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, when he was the first man to enlist from German township, as already noted. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Com-   BIOGRAPHICAL -323   pany H, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for a term of three months, at the expiration of which he re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company E, Thirty-eighth. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and at the expiration of his second term he enlisted in the Mississippi Marine Brigade, serving on the United States steamer "Baltic." Concerning his .service Major D. S. Tallerday, of Poplar Grove, ill., wrote as follows: "I will say in regard to R. H. Betts that he was a member of Co. H, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. I was a lieutenant in that company and knew him to be a good soldier. He was afterward enrolled as a corporal in Company C, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Of which I was captain; he was in several battles while in that company, and in March, 1863, he entered the Mississippi River Marine Brigade as a sergeant with me ; in this command he did many brave acts. At one time, near Greenville, Miss. he was cut off from the command and about to be captured; he charged through a lane with one other man and made his escape, cutting his way through some 200 of the enemy; his comrade was captured and afterward made his escape. Again, while out scouting with one comrade, he charged into Lake Village, La., when it was garrisoned by some two or three hundred of the enemy, and put them all to flight, as they thought that the Marine Brigade was upon them ; they soon found out their mistake, however, and tried to capture the "marine," as they called him, but they had given him time to look over the town and select a lot of their best horses, on two of which the boys made a hasty retreat, drivmg ten or fifteen fine horses ahead of them and being hotly pursued for some seven miles. About ten days after this event I went to this same town with my whole command, and R. H. Betts, as usual, was in command of the advance guard. He charged into the town, and as before, the enemy were again badly deceived, as Alley thought he was alone. The result was they showed fight and we succeeded in capturing a good lot of them. I could give many other instances of Mr. Betts' bravery, but will close by saying in regard to him that he was brave to a fault and always in the thickest of the fight." At the close of the war Mr. Betts was mustered out of the service, receiving his honorable discharge at Vicksburg, Miss. He then returned to Fulton county, where he followed farming a few years, after which he was employed in governmental service in various capacities until 1902, since which time he has lived retired in his pleasant home at Archbold. His last official service way as confidential messenger for Governor Foraker. He is a valued and appreciative member of the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Wauseon, and also is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic fraternity, and he takes an active   324 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   interest in public affairs, having been a Democrat in politics until the nomination of Bryan for the presidency, when, as he states the case, he "resigned" In 1865 Mr. Betts married Miss Charlotte Marketer, of German township, this county, and they have one son, Dr. Mart P., who is a graduate of Georgetown Medical College and who it established in the practice of his profession at Woodburn, Mar Vaunty, Ind,   ALBERT C. DANIELS is one of the progressive and energetic bushiest men who have proven successful in carrying forward the various details of farming, and is numbered among the prominent and honored agriculturists of Royalton township. He was born in Mentor, Lake county, Ohio, July 21, 1839, a son of Enos C. and Mary Ann (Carroll) Daniels, natives respectively of New York State and Lake county, Ohio. They took up their residence in Royalton township, Fulton County, in 1840, and here the father followed the carpenter trade several years, later engaging in the undertaking business, manufacturing the mains utilized in connection with his business. He purchased a considerable amount of desirable farming land in this township, and his well-directed efforts accumulated a competency, having been the owner of a finely-improved farm of 160 acres at the time of his death, which occurred March 4, 1902. His cherished wife and helpmeet passed to the eternal life on Nov. 10, 1896, both having been devoted members of the Christian church. They became the parents of three children, namely : Albert C., subject of this sketch; Ellen, wife di John Wood; and Mary, wife of Harmon Lauderdale. Albert C. was reared in Royalton township, receiving his early education in the common schools of the locality and period, and at the age of eighteen years began working at the carpenter trade, becoming an expert workman and having devoted fully one-half of his active career to his trade, becoming a contractor and builder of this section of the county and have been concerned in the erection of many buildings hereabouts. He later turned his attention to farming and is now the owner of a farm of more than 240 acres, sixty acres of the same being a portion of the old homestead on which he passed his boyhood days. Mr. Daniels rendered valiant service as a soldier in the Civil war, responding to President Lincoln's early call for volunteers. December 14, 1861, he enlisted corporal in Company I, Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, with whick he proceeded to the front, taking part in the battles of Winchester and Fort Wagner, besides many minor engagements, and continuing in service, until practically the close of the war. He received his honorable discharge, as orderly sergeant of his company, in Columbus, Oho, January 20, 1865. In 1889 Mr. Daniels engaged in the manufacturing of baking powder, at Bryan, Williams county, where he remained and one-half years, then returning to Fulton county and locating Wauseon. In 1893 he was elected treasurer of the county, being Chosen as his own successor in 1895, and thus serving two terms, and as administration of the fiscal affairs of the county was in every way discriminating and commendable. In 1900 he returned to his farm, in Royalton township, where he remained until 1905, when he took up his   BIOGRAPHICAL - 325   residence in Lyons, where he is now living essentially retired, having here erected an attractive modern residence in the spring of that year. He is a. strong adherent of the Republican party both he and his wife are members of the Christian church, and he is a valued comrade of Baxter Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lyons. On New Year's day of the year 1861, Mr. Daniels married Miss Lydia M. Sanford, who was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., a daughter of Cyrenus and Louisa A. (Gardner) Sanford, who were at that time residents of Lenawee county, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have four children : Rose E. is the wife of Cyrus Gillis of Mitchell, South Dakota; Luna M. la, the wife of John Lowe ; Charles J. is a traveling salesman for the Royal Baking Powder Co., and Maud L. is the wife of Luther Haley, tf Sioux Falls, Dakota.   EDWARD SHERMAN DAVOLL, a representative citizen, president of the Hone Savings Bank, business man of Metamora, and a member of one of the honored pioneer families of Fulton county, was in Amboy township, June 25, 1853, and is a son of William P. and Eliza (Sherman) Davoll, natives respectively of Tompkins county and Erie county, N. Y. The paternal grandfather, John Davoll, was a pioneer of Erie county, whither he removed from Tompkins county ; and the maternal grandfather, Charles R. Sherman, was a member of the old Puritan family of the name in Massachusetts, the line including many illustrious representatives, including the late Senator John Sherman and General William T. Sherman, of Ohio, and many other conspicuous ones in American history. Charles R. Sherman was an early settler of Erie county, N. Y., and died there. William P. Davoll, who was reared and educated in the Empire State, where he learned the carpenter trade, came to Fulton county, Ohio, in 1852, working at his trade for the ensuing decade and then making farming his principal vocation, clearing and improving a valuable farm in Amboy township, where he became the owner of one hundred acres. He lived in that township until 1884, when he removed to Charlevoix county, Mich., where he has since made his home, being eighty-one years of age (1905), and his cherished wife still remains by his side. They became the parents of four sons : William A. is a resident of Charlevoix county, Mich.; John and Edward S. reside in Metamora, Ohio; and Lewis F. resides in Marion, this State. Edward S. Davoll passed his boyhood and youth in Amboy township, and was afforded the advantages of the common schools, making good use of his opportunities and becoming eligible for effective service as a teacher, being engaged in this capacity for twelve terms, in the schools of Fulton county, and he made a specially excellent record for his skill as a mathematician. Later he was employed five years as salesman in a general store in Metamora, and in 1886 he here engaged in the same line of enterprise for himself, building up an excellent business, in which he continued until 1894. In 1892 he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty-three acres, in Amboy township, and he still owns this property, to which he gave his personal management until 1902. He owns a fifth interest in the Metamora Elevator   326 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   company, whose well equipped plant was constructed in 1903 at a cost of $9,000, having a capacity for the accommodation of 25,000 bushels of grain. He is also a member of the Metamora Lumber company, retail lumber and coal dealers. He was one of the organizers of the Herne Savings Bank of Metamora, in 1901, and has since been its president. He was also one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Wauseon, which initiated business February 5, 1904, and is a member of its directorate. October 15, 1876, Mr. Davoll married Miss Melinda A. Woodring, daughter of Reuben S. and Kate A. (Watkins) Woodring, pioneers of Fulton county. Edward, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Davoll, died It the age of four years, but in their home they have reared a nephew and niece, Earl and Nettie Harger. Mr. Davoll has served two terms as justice of the peace, and also as corporation treasurer of Metamora., as notary public and as president of the school board for a term of ten years, occupying this office at the present time, and he is also serving his first term as mayor of his home town, giving an administration which is progressive and effective and showing that lively public spirit which has animated him at all times. He has been very successful in his business affairs and he stands high in the estimation of the people of his native county. In politics he has always given an unreserved allegiance to the Republican party.   GEORGE R. DAVOLL is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Fulton county and is one of the prominent and successful farmers of Amboy township, residing upon and owning the old homestead farm upon which his birth occurred. George Richmond Devon was born April 7, 1858, and is a son of Job and Martha (Taylor) Davoll, both of whom were-born and reared in the State of New York, and they came to Fulton county in 1845 and settled in Amboy township, on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch. They experienced the usual vicissitudes and labors of the pioneer era, but in due time the father reclaimed the greater portion of his land to cultivation and found definite prosperity and independence, and he was a citizen whose worth was much appreciated in the community. He died on the old homestead, March 26, 1869, at the age of fifty-four years, having been one of the influential citizens of Amboy township, of which he served as treasurer four years. He was a son of John Davoll, who was numbered among the pioneers of Erie county, N. Y., whither he removed from Tompkins county, that State. Martha (Taylor) Davoll, daughter of John Taylor, proved a devoted wife and helpmeet and she survived her husband by many years, her death occurring in 1902, at which time she was eighty-three years of age. The children of this honored pioneer couple were four in number : William is deceased ; Lucretia Josephine is the wife of Alfred 0. Burrill, of Galt, Ontario, Canada; Ann N. became the wife of Albert N. Stillwell (both are deceased) ; and George R. is the youngest. The last named was reared to manhood on the old homestead, which is his present place of abode, and in the public schools of Amboy township he found the facilities which enabled him to acquire a good practical education. He has never wavered in his allegiance to the vocation in which he was reared, and his   BIOGRAPHICAL - 327   experience and native judgment, as coupled with energy and progressive ideas, have made him one of the leading farmers of his section, and in popular esteem he has well upheld the prestige of the name which he bears. His political adherence is with the Republican party, and he has been loyal to all the duties of citizenship, though never ambition for office of any sort. His interest in educational matters has been such that he has been retained as a member of the school board of his township for the past ten years. He is affiliated with Metamora Lodge, N 875 , Independent Order of Odd Fellows. December 30, 1880, Mr. Davoll was united in marriage to Miss Emily F. Setzler, daughter of John and Louisa (Searls) Setzler, natives respectively of Germany and the State of New York, and numbered among the pioneers of Amboy township. Mrs. Davoll was born on February 28, 1861, in Huron county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Davoll have one son, Charles A., who one of the popular young men of his native township.   ANDREW JACKSON DENNIS is another of the native sons of Fulton county who have here continued to reside during the years which have witnessed the development of this section from the comparative wilderness of the pioneer days to that of the beauty and opulent prosperity of the twentieth century, and he is numbered among the representative farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township. He was born in this township, within a mile of his present residence, on the 6th of November, 185o, and is a son of Isaac and Martha Jane (Bauvard) Dennis. Isaac Dennis was born in the State of New York, on the 19th of November, 1822, and was a son of Joseph and Mary (King) Dennis, both of whom were likewise born and reared in the old Empire State, and they came to Fulton county, Ohio, in the early pioneer era, locating on a farm across the road from what became the birth place of the subject of this review. There they continued to reside a number of years, and they then removed to Lucas county, where be passed the remainder of their lives. Isaac Dennis purchased a farm near the parental homestead in this county, as before intimated, a there he developed one of the valuable places of the county, the homestead continuing to be his residence until death, which occurred while he was serving as a soldier in the Union ranks. He was a member of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, a died at Fort Powhatan, Va., on the 4th of September, 1864. 1 wife was born in Medina county, Ohio, January 1, 1827, and survived him by many years, her declining days being passed on the old hor stead, where she died on the 14th of May, 1897. They became parents of seven sons and one daughter. William. Henry resides Lucas county ; Matthew Marvin is a farmer of Amboy township, Fulton county ; Andrew Jackson was the next in order of birth; Frai Marion is a resident of Lucas county ; Joseph resides in the city of Toledo; Ephraim Leroy is a resident of Lucas county, as are also Sarah Ann, who is the wife of William Drennan, and Isaac Alvin, who farmer of Spencer township, that county. William H. was a sot in an Ohio regiment during the Rebellion and he has never recovered   328 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   from the effects of disease contracted while in service. Andrew J. Dennis passed his boyhood days on the homestead farm, in whose work he early began to render his quota of assistance, and he secured his early educational discipline in the public schools, showing a marked two appreciation of his advantages in this line and adding effectively to his store of knowledge through self-discipline, so that he is a man of broad general information and one who enjoys good literature, both standard and contemporary. He has never severed his association with the important and basic art of agriculture, and has attained to marked success though his identification therewith. He owns the old homestead on which he was born, having inherited an eighth interest in the same and having purchased the interests of the other heirs. This place contains sixty acres, and his home farm, upon which he has resided the greater portion of the time since his marriage, comprises eighty acres. Both farms are under effective cultivation and are operated under his direct supervision, his son residing on the old homestead farm to which reference has been made. Mr. Dennis has ever shown an active interest in public affairs and is a recognized leader in the local ranks of the Republican party. He served one term as trustee of Fulton township and has been incumbent of other local offices of minor sort. He is affiliated with Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, and with Octavius Waters Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Delta. Mrs. Ditimis is a zealous and valued member of the Christian Union church at Zoom On New Year's day of the year 1878, Mr. Dennis was united is marriage to Miss Marietta Welch, a daughter of Charles C. and Margaret (Cass) Welch, the former of whom was born December 6, 1811, of English and Irish ancestry, and the latter of whom was born January 25, 1816, of German lineage. They were married March 6, 1834, having been natives of Pennsylvania and having been residents df Seneca county, Ohio, at the time of marriage. In 1845 they removed from Seneca to Lucas county and settled in Richfield township, aiiere the father became a prominent and successful farmer, and on the homestead he and his wife continued to reside until death. He passed to his reward, November 2, 1889, and she died on the 21st of June, 1893. They became the parents of nine children, of whom six are living, the names of the nine being here entered in order of birth : Elias, Lydia, Eunice, Sarah, George, Amanda, Marietta, Eliza Jane and Melissa. Elias, Lydia and Amanda are deceased, and the others live either in Fulton or Lucas counties. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis became the parents. of three children : Harley Andrew, who was born April 23, 1881, died November 6, 1900; Elias Charles, who was born March 27, 1884, was married, September 29, 1904, to Miss Ella Grove, of Fulton township, and they reside on the homestead farm secured by his paternal grandfather so many years ago; and Enid Zada, born August 2, 1887, sPas graduated in the Boxwell course in the public schools of Fulton county in June, 1903, and at present is attending the high school at Swanton, living with her parents in the attractive home, which is a cen-of gracious hospitality.   THE BLAIR HOUSE.—Wauseon is especially fortunate in many respects, but particularly so in the possession of the Blair House. Northwestern Ohio does not possess a public refuge for the weary traveler in any respect superior to the "Blair” of Wauseon. This is not alone the verdict of the writer, but he is sustained in this view by the best of witnesses, the traveling public. As a basis for this conclusion it is necessary to particularize sufficiently to establish the claim. The Blair is a handsome three-story brick structure, erected in 1896 on the site of the old Wauseon House, which was destroyed by fire. The present owner, J. Crawford Blair, was also the proprietor of the Wauseon, and he brought to his aid in the construction of the new building a ripe experience in the hotel business. Errors in arrangement, which had proven themselves such under the crucial test of experience, were carefully avoided, and the new building came into existence as nearly perfect in design and workman ship as it was possible to make it. The site of the Blair House has been occupied for hotel purposes ever since the town of Wauseon came into existence. It is conveniently located, near the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway, and at the same time near the business portion of the city. The hotel fronts upon a neatly kept little park and the Toledo and Indiana Electric railway passes by the door. Though the Blair is the handsomest public building in the city, the guests do not judge of a hotel by its external appearance. Internally the Blair is in perfect accord with its outside design. Every available foot of space is carefully utilized, yet without the appearance of being cramped, the nooks and corners being converted into receptacles convenient alike to guests and the practical utility of the house. The guest rooms are large and airy, handsomely decorated, heated with steam and lighted with electricity. A perfect system of call bells communicates with the office, and assures the guests of safety from fire, while a thoroughly competent night service reduces this danger to a minimum. Competent and obliging help in all departments caters to the comfort and convenience of the guest, and renders his sojourn homelike and pleasant. For the benefit of those who need the inspiration of stimulants, a handsome bar has been installed, where the best of goods may always be found, and the irrepressible "Cy" Snelbarker ready to cater to the public wants. "Cy" is as much a fixture as the house itself, having been in charge of the bar since the opening of, the house on July 4, 1896. The management of the Blair is perfect in all details. There is no clashing or discord. Every one knows his or her duty and performs it with scrupulous accuracy and thoroughness. A. speck of dust would be a terror to the eyes of the vigilant landlady, and the rooms, halls, stairways, bathrooms, closets, snowy white beds, the furniture, etc., are a standing advertisement of her ever vigilant care. But what is a hotel without a dining room? Take a peep into this, the nucleus to all suc-   330 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   cess in hotel-keeping on the "American' plan. The room is large and commodious, handsomely decorated and adorned. The tables are tastily arranged to accommodate six guests at each The principal meals are served in three courses. The menu includes the choicest articles afforded by the market, in great variety, selected and prepared with that intelligent consideration which comes only with long and varied experience. The culinary department is in charge of thoroughly competent persons, whose long connection with the house has rendered their labors doubly useful. The service is the best, the whole aim seeming to be to please and satisfy the guests. From this brief review of the salient features of the Blair House, the reader would naturally be interested in knowing something of the private life and character of him whose mesas and business capacity have brought this hostelry into existence 404, maintained it on the high plane herein described. James Crawford Blair was born near Honesdale, Wayne county, Pa. on November 19, 1849. He is the son of James Hunter and Sarah (Smith) Blair, natives of Pennsylvania. James H. Blair was a prosperous farmer. To him and wife eleven children were born. They are: Robert S., Frank, James C., Samuel T., Sarah, Maggie A., Wells C., Mary E., Jennie, 4. Warmth E. (deceased), and Elizabeth. Ellsworth died at the age of twenty-four. All of the others are married and have homes of their own, five of the brothers being residents of Ohio and three of the sisters Kendallville, Ind. J. C. Blair was educated in the country schools of his native county. He began his life work by engaging for several years in lumbering m the pineries of Wayne county. For the next few years he superintended a tannery at Glade Run, Pa.; then was superintending of the nitro-glycerine establishment at Clarendon, Pa., for one year after which he had charge of a lumber-camp near Saginaw, Mich., for a like period of time. On April t, 1892, he came to Delta, 0., and embarked in, the hotel business, but was burned out the same year, losing everything except the clothing on his person. In October of the next year he removed to Wauseon and, bought the Wauseon House, which was also destroyed by fire within two years of his assuming control. Here he again met with heavy loss. It was to Mr. Blair's pluck and perseverance that the Blair was built on the ruins of the old Wauseon. J. C. Blair has been a Mason for twenty-eight years, uniting with the North Star Lodge, No. 241, of Warren, Pa., and has attained to the Thirty-second degree. He also holds membership in the Warren Lodge, No. 339, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a charter member of Tent No. 133, Knights of the Maccabees at Wauseon. In politics he is a staunch Republican. Although reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church. he is not identified with any religious organization. On September 16, 1886, he was married to Miss Catherine Kreigelsteiner, of Dunkirk, N. Y. She is the daughter of Wolfgang Kregelsteiner, a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are very affable, congenial people, who take special pains in makmg their house a pleasant home for those who are entertained under its roof. Music and social games are provided in the spacious parlors and the well-disposed and orderly guest always meets with a cordial reception. The Blair family attend the services of the Congregational church and con-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 331   tribute liberally towards the support of the Gospel. As a reminder of Mr. Blair's former business connections, the following is reprinted from the Warren Evening Mirror of August 19, 1886: "Crawford Blair, who constituted one of the active force of the Oil Exchange when that institution was in its glory, but who is now looking after the oil interests of some Titusville parties at Tiona, took a lingering look at Warren today."   ALBERT DEYO, a retired farmer of Wauseon (farm located in Chesterfield township), was born in Windham, Greene county, N. Y., August 21, 1828. He is the son of Aaron and Anna (Ford) Deyo. In 1834 Aaron Deyo came to Seneca county, O., and located on a farm. Four years later he removed to Huron county, where he died in 1842. Albert Deyo was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of Seneca and Huron counties. When eighteen years old he began life's ,work by teaching during the winter months and following the carpenter trade during the remainder of the year. In 1854 he married Miss Margaret Kishpaugh, of Huron county, and the following year removed to Chesterfield township and located in the woods and cleared up a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he had purchased there. After clearing the land and cultivating it for eight years, he disposed of it and with the proceeds bought a farm of two hundred and twenty-six acres in Chesterfield township, the present homestead. The character of the residence and other farm buildings as well as the general condition of the farm mark the subject of this sketch as one of the most progressive and prosperous farmers in Fulton county. During the Civil war he enlisted for one hundred days in the One Hundred ant Thirtieth Ohio regiment and was commissioned captain by Gaverna Todd, and he was also in command of a company of militia in 1863 In 1864, he was appointed by Capt. L. J. Carrell ,orderly sergeant o Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry during the term of service, or until September 22, 1864. In 1863 hi was elected clerk of Chesterfield township and served in that capacit: for nine years. Then he was elected clerk of the court of common plea and re-elected three years later, serving altogether six years. Fiv years after leaving the office he was elected to the State legislature the Republican ticket and re-elected in 1885. During his whole active career he advocated better schools and good roads. On retiring from the legislature he returned to his farm and for three years lived then From 1890 to 1902 he was a resident of Morenci, Mich. Having sal his Morenci property he removed to Wauseon, where he now resides in strict retirement. He is a Royal Arch Mason, having taken all of th degrees of the blue lodge and the council. He is also identified with the Eastern Star and the Grand Army of the Republic. Three children were barn to the marriage of Albert Deyo and wife. They are: Ella F., the wife of Dr. L. E. Miley, now of Chicago, Ill., who at one time practiced medicine at Wauseon ; Leroy H., who married Miss Grace Pritchard, daughter of Hiram Pritchard: George H. who resides on the homestead farm, and who married Miss Dora Dull. They have three children : Ethel M., Lee A. and Burton A. Leroy H. Deyo as   332 - HISTORY OF .FULTON COUNTY   wife have one child named Anna M. After a long and successful business career Hon. Albert Deyo justly deserves absolute rest from the turmoils of active life.   ANDREW T. DISBROW, who was one of the honored citizens and prominent farmers of Royalton township and a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of Fulton county, well merits a. memorial tribute in this work. He was born in Lorain county, Ohio, on the 8th of July, 1846, being a son of Orville and Fanny (Buck) Disbrow, both of whom were born in Schoharie county, New York, whence they came to Ohio in an early day, first settling in Lorain county, later moving to Van Wert county, and finally taking up their residence in Fulton county, in 1859. Here Orville Disbrow reclaimed a good farm, upon he which passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1875. He was a son of James Disbrow, who was one of the early settlers of Lorain county, Ohio, where he continued to reside until his death. Andrew T. Disbrow was about thirteen years of age at the time when his parents came to Fulton county and settled on the pioneer farm, in Chesterfield township, where he was reared to manhood, having secured a good common-school education. He made farming his life vocation, and in 1870, at the age of twenty-four years, he located on the farm in Royalton township, where his widow now resides, reclaiming a considerable portion of the land and erecting the present substantial buildings, including the attractive residence. He continued to reside on this homestead until his death, which occurred on the 23d of November, 1889, at which time he was forty-four years of age, in the very prime of an honorable and useful manhood. He was baptized in the Christian church and was a man of impregnable integrity and one loyal in all the relations of life. In politics he gave his allegiance to the Republican party, but was never a seeker of office. December 4, 1870, Mr. Disbrow was united in marriage to Miss Viola Standish, a daughter of Clark and Harriet (Smith) Standish, sterling pioneers of Royalton township, and a lineal descendant of the historic Miles Standish, of Plymouth colony and Mayflower fame. Mr. and Mrs. Disbrow became the parents of four children, Hattie, deceased, Leroy, Harvey and Ina. Hattie passed to the life eternal ten months after her beloved father.   CALEB E DISBROW, one of the representative farmers of Royalton township, resumed his identification with the industrial and civic affairs of Fulton county in 1902, after an absence of many years in the State of Iowa. His parents were early settlers in Fulton county and here he himself was successfully engaged in farming for a number of years prior to his removal to the West, so that he finds himself again among old and stanch friends. Mr. Disbrow was born in LaGrange township Lorain county, Ohio, on the 20th of May, 1842, and is a son Orville and Fanny (Buck) Disbrow, both of whom were born in Schoharie county, New York, and they were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Ohio, having first settled in Lorain county, whence they removed to Van Wert county, and in 1859 they came to Fulton   BIOGRAPHICAL - 333   county and located in Chesterfield township, where the father improved a farm, remaining upon his homestead until his death, in the autumn of 1875, at the age of sixty-six years. His widow still survives him (1905) and resides in Chesterfield township, having attained the extremely venerable age of ninety-two years. The following is a brief record of the six children: Betsey is the wife of Anthony Leonard, Adeline became the wife of Andrew Gleason and is now deceased, Caleb E. is the immediate subject of this sketch, David J. resides in Wauseon, Andrew is deceased, and Francis is a farmer of Chesterfield township. James Disbrow, father of Orville, was one of the early settlers of Lorain county, Ohio, where he died. Caleb E. Disbrow was reared in Lorain and Van Wert counties and secured such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the day, and he was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, being seventeen years of age at the time of accompanying his parents on their removal to Fulton county. When the War of the Rebellion was inaugurated he manifested his loyalty by ,enlisting in Company G, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, with which he served two years and six months, taking part in a. number of engagements, and receiving an honorable discharge at the expiration of his term of enlistment. After the close of the war he returned to Fulton county and was here engaged in farming, in Royalton. township, until 1874, when he removed with his family to Cass county, Iowa, where he followed the carpenter trade, as a contractor and builder, for a period of twenty-seven years, after which he was there engaged in farming four years. In 1900 he disposed of his interests in Iowa and took up his residence in Lenawee county, Michigan, where he remained until 1902, when he once more came to Fulton county. Here he purchased his present fine homestead farm, of one hundred and forty-five acres, in Royalton township, where he is devoting his attention to diversified agriculture and to the raising of high-grade live stock. He is a stanch Republican in politics and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. March 24, 1866, Mr. Disbrow was united in marriage to Miss Rosaline Olds, daughter of Ferdino and Irene (Cone) Olds, of Royalton township, and they became the parents of two children, Irene, who is now the wife of Andrew Winterrowd, and Charles F., who is a resident of Lyons, Ohio. Mrs. Disbrow died in 1879, and Mr. Disbrow later wedded Miss Louisa Camburn, daughter of James and Lorenda. (Brower) Camburn, of Lenawee county, Michigan. Of the four children of this marriage three are living, Lorenda, Estelle, and Ernest. Walter died in childhood.   DAVID J. DISBROW, a distinguished veteran of the Civil war and a highly esteemed citizen of Wauseon, was born in LaGrange township, Lorain county, 0., on July 17, 184. He is the representative of a family which, together with that of his wife, furnishes an interesting history of individual effort from the far-away days of the American Revolution to the present time. The first ancestor of the Disbrows, of which the family has any record, was Thomas Disbrow, whose will was probated on February 7, 1706. He married Mercy Jones and became the father of one child,   334 - HISTORY 01 FULTON COUNTY   also named Thomas. The second Thomas Disbrow married Abigail Which union there were born seven children, among of whom was Caleb, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Caleb Disbrow married Sarah Davis, and to these parents were born nine children among whom was. Henry the great-grandfather of our subject Henry Disbrow married Rebecca Barnum, and to these parents were born eight children, among whom was James Disbrow, our subjects were grandfather. lames Disbrow married Polly Knapp, and of this union five children were born, among whom was the father of David J. Disbrow. The latter's parents, Orville and Fanny (Buck) Disbrow,, settled with their parents in Lorain county in pioneer days. In 1859 they, removed to Chesterfield township, Fulton county, where Orville Disbrow purchased the farm upon which he died in 1882, aged sixty-five years. His widow survives him and resides with her son Frances. Although she has passed the ninety-first milestone on life's journey, she still possesses her natural faculties to a remarkable degree. The maternal grandfather of David J. Disbrow, was a brave soldier of the Revolutionary war, entering the service with the New York State troops, and sharing with them the hardships of those who established our National Independence. David, who was fifteen years old when he accompanied his parents to this county, was educated in the public schools of his native county. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company I of the Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry and, entered upon active service in the Army of the James, under the command of General Gilmore. His military experiences were thrilling and his suffering intense. At the siege of Fort Sumter and Charleston his command was under fire day and night for six months. At the battle of Chester Station he received three severe wounds, any one of which was sufficient to disqualify him for future active military service. Two of the wounds were in the right side and the third in the shoulder, shattering the arm. After a service of two years and three months he was discharged because of disability. Of this time he spent three months on detached service .with the engineer corps, assisting in the laying of pontoons and the building of bridges across unfordable Strstams. This service was fraught with the greatest exposure, since the enemy usually occupied the opposite bank of the stream, determined to prevent the laying of the bridge ; hence their energies were directed to picking off the workmen. Such a position tried men's souls, the nature of which cannot be fully comprehended by anyone who has never engaged such a task. Upon his return from the war, David J. Disbow nursed himself back, to a comparative state of health and resumed him labors on the parental farm. In 1865 he was united in marriage to Miss Angeline, the daughter of Colonel Alanson and Lucinda (Rogrs) Briggs. A passing notice of Colonel Briggs is essential to a correct history of Fulton county. He was a native of Vermont and commanded a regiment of "Green Mountain Boys" in the War of 1812. Corning to Ohio soon after the close of that war, he interested himself in organizing the State militia, holding the rank of colonel for many years. Until the encroachments of old age forced him to resign he served as justice of the peace of Chesterfield township. Here in   BIOGRAPHICAL - 335   Chesterfield he was engaged in merchandising, farming and hotel keeping, his store being a favorite trading place for the Indians. After a residence of nine years in Cook county, Ill., he returned to Wauseon and died here at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. Colonel Briggs was the son of George Briggs, a representative of the early New English colonists. He left two daughters, Mrs. Eliza Beatty, of Wauseon, and Mrs. David J. Disbrow. The grandfather of Mr. Disbrow was a native of New York State and served in the War of 1812. He removed to Lorain county, 0., and was one of the pioneers of LaGrange township, where he died at an advanced age. The Disbrow family braces its genealogy to English antecedents, but like the Briggs and Buck families, it has long been established on American soil. Fanny Buck, who became the wife of Orville Disbrow, was a native of New York State, where her parents were born and ended their days. Her grandfather Buck was a Revolutionary hero from the Knickerbocker State. The children of Orville Disbrow and wife now living are as follows : David J. ; Caleb E., a prosperous farmer of Royalton township; Francis, who resides at the old homestead in Chesterfield township ; Betsy, the wife of Anthony Leonard, a retired farmer of Wausean, and Adeline (deceased), the late wife of Andrew Gleason, of Van Wert county, 0. Since the close of the war David J. Disbrow has allied himself with the Grand Army of the Republic, being Post Commander of Losure Post at Wauseon, and Mrs. Disbrow is a charter member of Losure. Post, No. 20, Woman's Relief Corps. Mr. Disbrow has been true to this fire-tested organization, and regards the little "bronze button" as an insignia of honor par excellence. He realizes, as do all thinking people, that the circle of membership is constantly narrowing with the passing years, and that soon the last member of the grand old army of the sixties will be mustered out and respond to "taps" on the eternal camping ground. In religious affairs he is identified with the Congregational church. To David J. Disbrow and wife two children have been born, a son and a daughter. They are: Charles E.., a prosperous young merchant at Oak Shade, Fulton county, who married Miss Retta Todd, of Dover township, and Eva, the wife of George W. Corlett, of Wauseon, a traveling representative of the wholesale hardware firm of Lockwood & Taylor, of Cleveland.   CHRISTOPHER DOMITIO, a pioneer merchant of Wauseon, 0., was born in the city of Pfalzburg, Loraine, Germany, at that time belonging to France. His father's name was also Christopher Domitio, who died when the son was only three years old. His wife survived him only eight years. Thrown on his own resources at the early age of eleven years, the subject of this sketch deserves all the more credit for having made a successful business man of himself. He received an elementary education in the public schools of Pfalzburg. After quitting school he set to work to learn the tailor's trade in his native city. Standing little show of promotion in his native city, he emigrated to America, locating first at Cincinnati, 0., where he worked for a time at his trade. In 1859 he came to Wauseon, where he embarked in the   336 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   gent's furnishing and clothing business, which he has ever since so successfully conducted. Without meddling with the affairs of others, he applied himself closely to his own business, and by dint of hard work and reasonable economy has built up a trade second to no other of the same kind in that part of the State. He came to Wauseon as a skillful mechanic, and his claims were soon acknowledged by all who had occasion to utilize hig services. There is today no more popular and highly respected citizen in Wauseon than Mr. Domitio. By dealing fairly with his patrons, charging only a reasonable profit, he has deservedly won the confidence of all who have had dealings with him. AS long as the business is conducted along these lines it must continue to grow, a fact well known to the subject of this Sketch. He married Miss Mary Scott, the daughter of John and Mary Ann (Graham) Scott, natives of Holmes county, 0., who settled on a fine farm in Clinton township, Fulton county, in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Domitio have had two children, both daughters. They are: Nellie, the wife of T. W. McKinley, of Denver, Colo., and Lora, now Mrs. Charles Shindler, a druggist of Toledo, 0.   ORVILLE A. DONOVAN, one of the progressive farmers of the younger generation in Chesterfield township, was born in the adjoining county of Lenawee, Michigan, in Seneca township, on the 6th of May, 1876. He is a son of George and Margaret Donovan, the former of whom was born in Akron, Ohio, and removed from the Buckeye State to Lenawee county, Mich., where he was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in August, 1897, at which time he was lifty-three years of age. His wife was born in Ashland, Ohio, January 5, 1850, and is now living with her son, Orville A., subject of this review. The latter passed his boyhood and youth in his native county, and after attending the district schools he was a student for two years in the high school at Morenci. His vocation in life, has been that of farming and he has been thus engaged in Chesterfield township since his marriage. September 9, 1896, Mr. Donovan married Miss Bertha Onweller, who was born in Chesterfield township, October 31, 1873, being, a daughter of William and Mary A. (Shadle) Onweller, the former of whom was born in Chesterfield township, this county, December 1, 1846, and the latter was likewise born in Fulton county, in 1849. On the 1st of April, 1897, they took up their residence in Morehci, Mich., where they have since maintained their home, Mr. Onweller having retired from active business, and his fine farm is now operated by his son-in-law, Mr. Donovan. William Onweller was a son of William, Sr., who was one of the pioneers of Fulton county, as Was also the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Donovan, Joseph Shadle, both ,families being of stanch German descent. Mr. Donovan is a Republican in politics, and he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being affiliated with the lodge at Morenci, Mich., and both he and his wife are members of the Chesterfield Grange, and they are popular in the social life of the community. They have no children.   BIOGRAPHICAL - 337   ALBERT DOWEL,L, stands as a worthy representative of one of prominent pioneer families of Fulton county, being a son of William Dowell, who recently died on his old homestead, in Fulton township, and who is made the subject of a special tribute of honor on a succeeding page of this work, so that reference may be made to the article in question for data as to the family history. Albert Dowel is the owner a fine farm and is also a skilled mechanic, with marked inventive genius, as will be noted further on in this context. He was born on the old homestead farm, on a portion of which he now resides, on the 26th of September, 1853, and there passed his youthful days, being afforded the advantages of the local schools, while he early manifested distinctive mechanical talent, as had also his father before him. He is a-skilled artisan in both wood and metals, and he erected his own the purpose and barn, which are models of convenience and adaptability to the purposes for which they were built. His barn was erected in 1899, is thirty-four by forty-two feet in dimensions, and has a self-supporting goof. The attractive residence was built in the same year and has wiany conveniences and accessories which show the ability of Mr. Dowell in a mechanical way, as well as his appreciation of the higher artistic values. He has always been an indefatigable worker, and has so !taxed his physical powers in past years that his strength is grievousily impaired, though he is in the very prime of life. He remained at the parental home until his marriage, in 1893, save for such intervals as be devoted to work as a machinist and general engineer, having been, employed at railroad work for several years, and he also owned and operated a steam threshing outfit for some time. For the past twenty years Mr. Dowell has been working earnestly to perfect an invention which partially suggests perpetual motion and which is a greater conservator of power. After years of patient thought, study and experimentation he has finally perfected to his satisfaction an appliance radically different from all existing types of motors, the principle involved being brought to practical work in such a way as to require in the operation of the motor only one-thirtieth the power, while the other twenty-nine thirtieths art made available for the operation of machinery. It is his intention to bring his wonderful device into practical use as soon as possible. Mr. Dowell is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, in whose faith he was reared, and while he has never held or desired office he has never failed in public spirit and loyalty to all the duties of citizenship. He remained on the old homestead until the death of his loved mother, whom he considered a type of perfect womanhood and whose memory he reveres with all of filial appreciation. He was married in 1893 and has since given his attention to the improvement and cultivation of his fair, which comprises eighty acres. He and his wife lived in a nearby tenant-house until 1899, when he erected his house and barn, as has already been noted, and he has since beautified his house and grounds in every possible way, setting out a goad orchard and making other excellent improvements of a permanent order on his farm. April 30, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dowell to Miss Delilah Habel, who was   338 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   born in Fulton township, September 25, 1869, being a daughter of Peter and Anna Elizabeth (Shuck) Habel, both of whom were born in Germany, and they passed the closing years of their lives in Fulton county, where they were pioneers. Of their children it may be recorded that Margaret, wife of Daniel Mohr, died in middle life; Jacob died in FttlWn township, aged fifty-four years ; Lena is the wife of Christ Ottgen, of Amboy township; Caroline is the wife of Sylvester Munson and they reside near Swanton; Mary is the wife of Owen Dowell, of Lytton, this county, her husband being a brother of the subject of this Sketch; George is a farmer near the village of Ai ; John resides on the Old homestead farm; Peter is a gardener near Toledo; and Samuel is a farmer near Delta, this county, and Delilah, the youngest, is the wife of him whose name initiates this article. Mr. and Mrs. Dowell became the parents of four children, one of wham died in infancy, and those living are Lona, Naman and Lorena.   MARION DOWELL, one of the representative farmers of Fulton township, where he has lived from the time of his nativity, is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of the county, being a son of William Dowell, concerning whom detailed mention is made in the review that follows this one, so that further reference to the family history is not required in the present connection. Marion Dowell was born on the old pioneer homestead, in Fulton township, on the 24th of April, 1857, early began to assist in the work of the farm, and he secured his educational training in the public schools of the locality, fitting himself for the proper handling of business affairs through good, practical discipline, both at home and in school. He continued to be associated in the operation of the home place until his marriage in 1886, when he took up his residence in the village of Ai, .where he remained three years, still continuing to be engaged in agricultural pursuits. The ensuing three years he passed on a farm near his birthplace, and he then, in 1892, located upon his present farm, which embraces eighty acres of excellent land, of which all but ten acres is available for cultivation, being highly productive and devoted to diversified farming, which Mr. Dowell makes profitable, having ample experience and being endowed with indomitable energy and good business acumen. He also gives special attention to the raising of sheep, breeding the full-blood Shropshire type and having a fine herd of the same. He sells many sheep for breeding purposes and is an adept in this department of his farm enterprise. He also raises hogs for market, as well as horses, and in the breeding of cattle he keeps up a good herd of milch cows, whose product he sells principally at the cheese factory in Swanton. In his political proclivities Mr. Dowell is a stanch Democrat, and he takes a loyal interest in all local affairs of public import. He is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. gab, I. O. 0. F., and Fulton Encampment, No. 197, of the same Order, at Delta, being past grand in the subordinate lodge and Past Chief Patriarch in the Encampment. Both he and his wife are valued members of Berry Grange, No. 'In, at Ai, and Mrs. Dowell is the only woman who has ever been honored with the office of worthy master of a Grange in Fulton county. She is at the present time the head   BIOGRAPHICAL - 339   officer in Fern lodge, No. 543, Daughters of Rebekah, at Swanton. She is a devoted member of the Baptist church, taking an active part in religious work and being most popular in the best social life of the community. Mr. Dowell has marked natural talent as a musician, and his children all inherit this graceful gift. He was a member of the cornet band for a long period, and for twelve years was its leader, and he is also a good vocalist. The pleasant family home is one in which the refined amenities are ever in evidence and it is a center of a most gracious hospitality. October 13, 1886, Mr. Dowell was united in marriage to Miss Nina Odell, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Wickham) Odell, concerning whom detailed mention is made in the sketch dedicated to their son, Dr. Samuel Odell, on another page of this work. Mrs. Dowell was born in Huron county, Ohio, on the 17th of January, 1865, and there her marriage was solemnized. She completed her educational discipline in the Western Reserve Normal School, at Miland, O., and was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Huron county for three years, prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Powell have been borne four children, all of whom are living except one. Mahlon Ellsworth was born August 28, 1887; Loyd R. was born July 18, 1890; Clayton E. was born July 27, 1893, and died on the 21st of October of the following year ; and Herma H: was born April 26, 1897.   WILLIAM DOWELL, deceased, was one of the well-known pioneer citizens of Fulton county, was a native son of the Buckeye State, and resided on the homestead, in Fulton township for more than sixty years, commanding at all times the esteem of the community and ever playing the part of a loyal and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Dowell was born in Ripley township, Holmes county, Ohio, on the 9th of February, 1821, and was a son of John W. and Sarah (Wells) Dowell, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and the latter in Maryland. John W. Dowell was a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of Kentucky, and was a valiant soldier in the War of 1812. He passed the closing years of his life in Indiana, and his wife was a resident of Fulton county, Ohio, at the time of her demise, both reaching advanced age. They became the parents of twelve children, only one of whom is living, James, who is a resident of Michigan. William Dowell was reared to manhood in Ohio and received such educational advantages as were afforded in the schools of the early pioneer epoch. As agent for a fur-trading company he had several times visited Fulton county prior to 1844, m which year he took up his permanent residence here, purchasing a portion of the old homestead, which was on the "disputed strip," claimed by both Ohio and Michigan, and the matter of a very bitter controversy between the two States, the contest even calling out an armed conflict along the border. In the earlier years his principal source of income was hunting and trapping, and from the sale of his furs and game he was enabled to pay for his eighty acres of wild land within the first year of his residence here. In following his hunting dogs through this section he often waded in .water to the depth of his waist, and he was seldom less than knee-deep in water during his   340 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   excursions of this sort, the entire locality being practically a swamp, with gigantic forest trees and tangled undergrowth. He was among the first in the county to engage in ditching for the purpose of making the land available for cultivation, and after a few years the settlers began to utilize lateral ditches and underground tiling for the same purpose. North of his present home, and partially surrounding it, was a lake of more than two hundred acres in area, and the same has now entirely disappeared through effective drainage, and the land, as well as much Other land which seemed the most undesirable, is now among the most fertile sections of the county and State, yielding rich returns for the arduous and protracted labors put forth in its reclamation. Mr. Dowell was practically without any financial resources of a tangible sort at the time when he thus sought a home in the wilderness of Fulton county, and here he literally "worked out his own salvation," and his contribution to the general development and progress in material and civic affairs was a generous and commendable one. For some time he was even unable to purchase a gun, and his hunting was done with the aid of his faithful dog, by the utilization of traps, dead-falls, and other primitive devices of the pioneer in woodcraft. Finally he traded a three-year-old steer and paid in addition ten dollars for a very ordinary gun; which he used for some time, but he was not satisfied with the weapon, and this led to his bringing his natural ingenuity and mechanical genius into play in the personal construction of a gun according to his own ideas, the result being a fine double-barreled rifle Carrying an ounce ball. With this fire-arm he did valiant execution in traversing the wilds in search of game, and the gun is still in the family. The making of this gun led Mr. Dowell to exercise his mechanical skill in other directions, and without serving an apprenticeship in ratty trade, he became an expert workman in both wood and iron. He has made many guns in his day, and for years did general repair work for others, in various mechanical lines. He also erected his own house and barns and his versatility with tools was practically unlimited. His shop was "a veritable curiosity, being well-equipped with lathes, tools and other useful devices of his own manufacture. He was engaged in the general merchandise business at Ai for four years, and aside from this his life in Fulton county was passed on his old homestead farm, which comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and he also owned another farm, of eighty acres, near Swanton. On the home farm twenty-two acres are still covered with fine native timber. The burden of constructing gravel roads has been onerous, the cost being assessed against the farmers at an average of fully a dollar an acre, but the results justify the expenditure, and in this work, as in other public enterprises, Mr. Dowell lent a ready co-operation. He was always an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and for fifteen years he served as constable in his township, and for more than forty years he was a valued school officer March 28, 1847, Mr. Dowell was united in marriage to Miss Caroline A. Warner, who was born February 2o, 1827, and who died January 31, 189o, having been a faithful wife and helpmeet. Their children were : Oliver, who was born February a, 1848, and who died on the 26th of the following   BIOGRAPHICAL - 341   month; Emily, born March 5,1 1849; Owen, born April 27, 1850; Olive, born September 22, 1851 ; and Albert and Marion, who are individually mentioned on the preceding pages of this work. Olive became the wife of John Shepler, and her death occurred August 29, 1882. On October 3, 1905, Mr. Dowell passed away on the old homestead, beloved by all who knew him.   PETER DRUM, proprietor of the Broadway meat market of Swanton, was born in Williams county, 0. June 6, 1874. He is the son of John and Rachel (Dunlap) Drum, both natives of Pennsylvania, who removed to Northwestern Ohio in 1865 and located on a farm in Williams county, where they now reside, engaged in general farming. They are the parents of the following children the eldest died in in- fancy; Allen E., a retail liquor dealer of Montpelier; Cassie, the wife of James Wilson of Jonesville, Mich.; Ellen, who died in young womanhood on December 24, 1903; Peter ; Cora M., the wife of Ora Moore of West Unity, 0.; Stella May and Bertha, both still at home. Peter Drum grew to manhood on the home farm and received Such an education as the public schools of his day afforded. At the age of twenty- two years be quit the farm and engaged in buying produce for the firm of Miller, Bond & Hilton, of West Union, remaining in their employ for three years. In 1898 he came to Swanton and for a year and a half operated a dray line. His next venture was in the livery business, which he conducted successfully for a year and then sold at a liberal profit on his investment. For the next four years he was engaged in the restaurant and retail liquor business. Early in 1905 he bought the meat market which he is now conducting with marked success. The fact that he owns one of the best equipped establishments in his line in the county is due to his close attention to business and his thorough knowledge of stock-raising. In this business he keeps two skilled workmen constantly employed. He is identified with the organizations of the Foresters and the Odd Fellows. In his political views he is quite liberal, usually supporting the national candidate of the Democratic party, but independent in local elections. On January 23, 1896, he chose as his helpmeet in life's journey Miss Nora Juillard, of Stryker, O., the daughter of Louis and Margaret (Pruden) Juillard, both natives of France, the former deceased at the age of forty-five years. To Peter Drum and wife one son has been, born, named Harold J., who died August 13, 1901, aged four years and twenty-one days.   ALBERT EDGAR is another of the successful and popular farmers of Royalton township who is deserving of specific representation in this historical work. He was born in Royalton township, September 28, 1869, and is a son of William S. and Susannah (Pontious) Edgar, the former of whom was born in county Armagh, Ireland, and the latter in Pike county, Ohio. William S. Edgar is a son of Samuel and Mary (Parks) Edgar, who came from Ireland to America in 1857, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where the latter died. Her husband later removed to Ingham county, Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his life. Daniel and Elizabeth (Leist) Pontious, the maternal grand-   342 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   parents of the subject of this sketch, were of stanch Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and were pioneers of both Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio, in which latter both were residents at the time of death, the former passing away at the age of eighty-three and his wife at the age of eighty- one. William S. Edgar was born in county Armagh, Ireland, on the loth of July, 1833, and came to America in 1854, about three years earlier than did his parents. He took up his residence in Henry county, Ohio, where he was employed in a saw-mill for the ensuing three years, after which he there engaged in farming, on the bottom-lands of the Maumee river. In 1864 he came to Fulton county and located in Clinton township, where he remained until 1868, when he purchased a farm in Royalton township, becoming one of the representative farmers of this section and continuing to reside on the homestead until the autumn of 1904, when he and his devoted wife removed to the village of Delta, where he is now living retired. His children are five in number, namely: William R., Alva, Elmer, Albert and George. Albert Edgar, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm, and has passed his entire life thus far in Royalton township, in whose public schools he secured his educational discipline. He is now the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, improved with good buildings and maintained under a high state of cultivation, while forty acres of his land is a part of the old homestead on which his father settled in 1868. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he is a loyal and public-spirited citizen, being at the present time a member of the board of education in his township. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church at Lyons and they enjoy marked popularity in the social life of their home community. September 21, 1893, Mr. Edgar was umted in marriage to Miss Mamie E. Mann, daughter of Charles and Mary (Hinkle) Mann, of Royalton township, and they have one daughter, hla May, Mable Irene, the oldest child, being deceased.   ELMER EDGAR.—It is gratifying to note the large number of representative farmers of Fulton county who are of the second generation of their families in this section, many being native of the county, and who have found it expedient and satisfactory to follow the vocation to which they were reared, thus aiding in upholding the prestige of agriculture in this section, carrying forward the work inaugurated under so vastly different conditions by those who were the pioneers of the county. An able representative of this class of farmers is Elmer Edgar, whose well-improved landed estate is located in Royalton township. He was born in Clinton township, this county, December 9, 1866, being a son of William. S. and Susannah (Pontious) Edgar, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pike county, Ohio. The paternal grandparents, Samuel and Mary (Parks) Edgar, immigrated from county Armagh, Ireland, to America, in 1857, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where the latter died. Her husband, who had been there engaged in farming, soon afterward removed to Ingham county, Michigan, being a pioneer farmer of that section, where he passed the remainder of his life. They became the parents of ten children, name-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 343   ly.: Susannah, Robert, Lucinda, Mary J., Joseph, William S., George, John, Hugh, and Margaret. The maternal grandparents of Elmer Edgar were Daniel and Elizabeth (Leist) Pontious, who were born in Ohio, and of Pennsylvania German parentage, the families having been pioneers of Henry and/Fulton counties, Ohio. Daniel Pontious died in Royalton township, Fulton county, at the age of eighty-three years, and his wife died in Clinton township, aged eighty-one years. William S. Edgar was born in county Armagh, Ireland, July 10, 1833, and was there reared and educated. In 1854 he came to America, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where he was employed in a saw-mill for the enlisting three years, after which he there engaged in farming in the bottom-lands of the Maumee river. In 1864 he came to Fulton county and located on a farm in Clinton township, and in 1868 he removed to Royalton township, where he became a prosperous farmer and influential citizen, accumulating nearly five hundred acres of land. He resided on his homestead farm until 1904, when he removed to the village of Delta, where he has since lived retired. He is a Democrat in politics, and both he and his wife attend the Presbyterian church. They have five sons : William R., Alva, Elmer, Albert and George, all of whom are well established in life and proving worthy of the honored name which they bear. Elmer Edgar has been a resident of Royalton township since he was two years of age, and has always been identified with agricultural pursuits, and he received his early education in the public schools of his native county. He now owns and operates the Old homestead farm, which comprises two hundred acres, and is one of the wide-awake, enterprising and successful farmers and stock-raisers of the county. He is a stalwart adherent of the Republican party and serving as one of the trustees of Royalton township, and he has also moved in other local offices of public trust. He and his wife are members of the Christian church. December 25, 1901, in fitting observance a the gladsome spirit of the Christmastide, Mr. Edgar was united in :marriage to Miss Emma J. Smellie, daughter of Gavin and Julia (Whittaker) Smellie, of Dover township, and they have a fine little son, Doyle S. The parents of Mrs. Elmer Edgar are of Scotch descent.   BERT C. ELDREDGE, a veterinary surgeon of Swanton, born in the village of Tedrow, Fulton county, 0., on October 19, 1870, is a descendant of early New England pioneers, the maternal line being descended from Perigene White, the first white child born in Plymouth colony. Dr. Eldredge's great grand-father, Thomas Eldredge, removed from the State of New York to Stark county, 0., about the year 1809, and was drafted from that county to serve as a soldier in the War of 1812. He died in Illinois and his wife in Stark county. Stephen Eldredge, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Stark county on December 19, 1824, and he still resides in Fulton county, at the ripe old age of eighty years, enjoying good health and quite active in choring and attending to his home interests. Bert C. Eldredge is the son of William A. and Eva (Clark) Eldredge, the   344 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   former a native of Wood county, 0., and the latter of Kalamazoo, Mich. They were married in Fulton county on September 2, 1869, and the wife died July 21, 1875. Bert C. is the only child born to this union. The maiden name of William A. Eldredge’s second wife was Hattie Evans. To these parents, both still living, there have been born four children. They are : Orville A., a machinist of Swanton; George Otis, Lura B. and Lela. The family has resided on the homestead farm adjoining Tedrow for about thirty years. Bert C. Eldredge grew to manhood on the homestead and received his education by attending the Tedrow public schools and the Fayette, 0., Normal, graduating from the commercial department of the latter institution. In the fall of 1900 he entered the Ontario Veterinary college at Toronto, Canada, and graduated on March 28, 1902. In May following he came to Swanton, where he has since practiced his profession with gratifying success, ranking high in his profession and enjoying the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican, as were his ancestors since the birth of that party. On December 24, 1894, he was married to Miss Mildred M. Somers, a daughter of Martin and Ellen (Fitzsimmons) Somers of Dover township, Fulton county. Martin Somers served as a soldier during the Civil war and died of diseases resultant from army life on June 19, 1903. His widow survives him and still resides on the homestead. To these parents three children were born. They are: Orrin E., a farmer; Mildred M., now Mrs. Eldredge, and Belva M., now Mrs. Porter, whose husband Operates the homestead. To Dr. Eldredge and wife there was born on September 19, 1904, a daughter, little Eva Ellen.   GEORGE A. EVERETT, attorney and counselor-at-law, Delta, was born in Amboy township of Fulton county, November 21, 1868. His genealogy is traceable to English and German ancestors, English on the paternal side. The Everetts were among the pioneers of Massachusetts, removing from there to Pennsylvania in an early day. He is the son of George and Elizabeth (Sipe) Everett, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Holmes county, 0., and in 1848 removed to Amboy township, Fulton county, being among the early pioneers, where the father died and where his widow still resides. They were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living. They are: Mrs. C. E. Haynes of Toledo; Mrs. J. M. Curtis of Swanton ; Mrs. Edward Luke of Lytton, 0.; Samuel, a merchant of Lytton ; George A.; Isaac, who is engaged in raising poultry, and bees at Lytton ; William, who died in childhood; Isaiah. who died in infancy; John and Mary, who both died in ma- hire life. George A. Everett grew to manhood on a farm and was educated at the Fayette (0.) Normal University, completing the teachers' course in 189o. He then took the scientific course, graduating in 1892 as the salutatorian of the class, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. While at college he did the preliminary work in the study of law, and graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1895. with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, having acted as assistant law librarian during the entire collegiate course. In 1896   BIOGRAPHICAL - 345   the law firm of Everett Paxson opened up an office at Delta. After some time Mr. Paxson abid his interest to Mr. Everett, who since that time has been alone. He has a finely appointed suite of rooms above the post office and is doing an extensive and very lucrative practice. Since the beginning of his work he has been admitted to practice at the bar of the supreme courts of Ohio and Michigan and to the Federal Courts. In politics he is a stanch Republican, always taking an active part during the campaigns. On April 1, 1903, he was elected mayor of the city of Delta for a term of two and one-half years. Although a young man he is deeply interested in public school affairs and has served on the board of education for four years. He is a member of Delta lodge, 194, Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor commander. He is also a member of Fulton lodge No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, high priest of Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, Royal Arch Masons, and past patron of Aurora Chapter, No. 75, Order of Eastern Star. On May 8, 1901, he was married to Miss Marion V. Corbin of Delta, a daughter of D. E. Corbin, who for the past twenty years has been employed by the Oval Wood Dish company. Mrs. Everett is a graduate Of the Delta high school, and has developed a remarkable aptitude for elocution, having spent some time in the study of that art and in-perfecting herself in music. They have one child, Doris Elizabeth, born February 2, 1905.   SAMUEL EVERETT.—To speak of the village of Lytton is equivalent to calling attention to its leading business man, and that man is Samuel Everett, whose initiative power and broad pragmatic discrimination have enabled him to build up in this distinctive rural community a business enterprise which would do credit to a metropolitan center, and which, in fact, encroaches heavily on the trade territory of larger and more pretentious towns in the county, the village of Lytton being located on the line between Fulton and Amboy townships and being in the center of as fine an agricultural section as is to be found in the State. Mr. Everett is a native of Fulton county and is a young man of distinctive ability and sterling attributes of character. He was born in Amboy township, on the loth of December,' 1872, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Sipe) Everett, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. The Everett family of America traces its genealogy back to sterling English origin, and there have been many distinguished representatives of the name both in England and America, in which latter country the family was founded in the colonial era, the original progenitors in the new world having settled in Massachusetts, and later on representatives were numbered among the pioneers of Pennsylvania. From this branch the subject of this review is descended. In Holmes county, 0. was solemnized the marriage of George Everett to Miss Elizabeth Sipe, whose lineage is of German extraction, and in 1848 they came to Fulton county, settling in Amboy township and being numbered among the early pioneers of this part of the county, where the father developed and improved one of the valuable farms of the county, passing the remainder of his life on this homestead and being one of   346 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   he most honored citizens of the community. He passed away in 1882, at. which time his landed estate comprised two hundred acres. This been distributed among the heirs, the mother retaining her dower interest and still residing on the old place. Of the ten children six are Living, Samuel Everett was reared to the sturdy discipline of the imme farm, contributing a due quota to its work from his boyhood days and being afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of the county. He initiated his independent career as a farmer, having been but ten years of age at the time of his father's death, and having due time come into possession of his share of the estate. He continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1894, when he founded the business at whose head he now stands and which is almost phenomenal in scope and importance, even as it is unique in location. His possessions comprise about all that is represented in the business affairs of the village of Lytton, and it is due almost entirely to his progressive ideas and well-ordered enterprise that he has centralized here so magnificent a trade. He designates, with characteristic vim, his headquarters as being located "twenty-four miles west of Toledo," which city he thus takes into consideration as representing his only fOrmidable trade rival. Mr. Everett carries a large stock of farm implements and machinery, vehicles, dairy supplies, heavy and shelf hardware, tinware, paints and oils, pumps, stock remedies and patent medicines, groceries and provisions, and such other lines as he believes will supply the legitimate demands of his large and widely extended tirade. His stock is selected with discrimination in each department; Jugs M. large quantities ; his relative expenses are light, and he is enabled to offer prices which have created indubitable consterna$ among his rivals in the larger towns, from which he has deflected Mid solidly retained a large and appreciative patronage. His main is two stories in height and fifty-four by sixty-two feet in dimensions, and it has two additions or wings, each twenty-five by fifty. feet. All this space is fully demanded for the accommodation of his stock, and while its valuation is constantly fluctuating in a slight way. by the exigencies of sale and purchase of new stock, its average valuation may conservatively be placed at eighteen thousand dollars, implying annual operations which would be noteworthy in a center of commercial industry. Inflexible integrity and fair-dealing characterize the. course of this ambitious and successful young business man, and he may well view with pride the success which has attended his efforts. He ia essentially and primarily a business man, but this fact does not marrow his interest in public affairs, and he is thoroughly loyal and as a citizen and a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, though never an aspirant for office. He is affiliated with Swantion lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, and is popular in both business and social circles in the county. On the 26th of April, 1898. Mr. Everett was united in marriage to Miss Ida Schug, who was bent and reared in Fulton county, being a daughter of Peter and Catherine fine Schug, and they have two fine little sons, Harold and Howard. Mrs. Everett is a member of the Zion Reformed church at Lytton.   BIOGRAPHICAL - 347   ROBERT W. FAUBLE is numbered among the progressive farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township, where he has passed his entire life, a scion of stanch pioneer stock. He was born in the same neighborhood in which he now resides, on the 9th of October, 1849, and is the son of Isaac, and Rachel A. (Watkins) Fauble, both of whom Were born in Wayne county, Ohio, the former in 1815 and the latter in 1818. Isaac Fauble was a son of Michael Fauble, who was born in Germany and who was the founder of the family in America, having been one of the pioneers of Wayne county, Ohio, where both he and his wife died. Isaac Fauble came with his wife to Fulton county in an early day, securing wild land in Fulton township and developing a good farm, upon which he died when fifty-eight years of age, his wife attaining the age of sixty-eight years. He was an energetic, aggressive and industrious man, inflexible in his integrity and straightforward in all his dealings. Though he died in middle life had so well directed his efforts that he left his family in comfortable circumstances. He and his wife continued resident of Fulton county until death, save for an interim of about two years, passed in Indiana. They became the parents of six children, of whom the eldest died in infancy. Jane is the wife of Jacob Garman, a farmer of Clinton township; Robert W. was the next in order of birth; James E. is a farmer of Swan Creek township; Sarah L., widow of George W. Fraker, is individually mentioned elsewhere in this work; and Rachel A. is the wife of Andrew J. Fraker, of whom specific mention is made on another page. Robert W . Fauble, was reared to the sturdy work of the home farm and his educational advantages in youth were those afforded by the local schools. His entire life . has been devoted to cultural pursuits, and upon the death of his parents he inherited portion of the old homestead. He and his wife are now joint owners of a well-improved farm of fifty-eight acres, and the same is maintained under effective and profitable cultivation, and the land being specially productive, and he also devotes no little attention to the raising of live-stock of goad grades. He met with some financial reverses during the period of general business depression in the early '90’s, but the favorable conditions following the natural reaction in industrial affairs enabled Mr. Fauble to recoup his .losses, thus restoring him to independent circumstances. In politics Mr. Fauble is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and he has served in minor local offices of public trust, and fraternally he is identified with the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Delta. March 30, 1876, Mr. Fauble was married to Miss Clara J. Manley, who was born in Fulton township, this county, being a daughter of Whitfield Manley, an honored pioneer. Mr. and Mrs. Fauble have seven children, all of whom are living. Nellie and Ella (twins) were born January i 1, 1877, the former being now the wife of William J. Fleming, and the latter being the wife of Archibald B. Putnam, both of this county; Roy, who was born June 23, 1879, is employed in the city of Toledo; Edward,   348 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   born February 2, 1881; Clarence, born July 13, 1887; Ralph, born March 30, 1889; and Florence, born January 13, 1892, all remain at the parental home.   EUGENE FELTZ, one of the venerable pioneer citizens and retired farmers of Amboy township, has contributed his quota to the material and civic development and progress of Fulton county, and has ever stood as a man of loyalty and integrity in all the relations of life, so that in his declining years he is surrounded by those who accord him unqualified respect and esteem. He was born in the department of Muerthe et Moselle, France, on the German border, April 3, 1817, and is a son of Nicholas E. and Mary (Payaer) Feltz. His father was for many years in the employ of the French government, as warder over timber preserves, and he passed his entire life in France, as did also his wife. Eugene Feltz was reared and educated in his native land, where he served an apprenticeship of eighteen months at the carpenter trade, following the trade as his vocation in France until 1852, when he came to the United States. On May 15th of that year he located in Sandusky, Ohio, which was then a mere village, and he was there employed at his trade for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of which, in 1856, he came to Fulton county and located in the little town of Metamora, where he continued in the work of his trade five years, as a contractor and builder as well as general workman. He then purchased thirty acres of land in Section 17, Amboy township, reclaiming and improving the same, to which he later added by the purchase of a contiguous tract of twenty acres, and still later he purchased twenty acres in Section 8. The fifty acres in Section 17 constitute the farm now owned and operated by his son Joseph, one of the leading farmers of this township. In 1890 Eugene Feltz located on a farm of eighty-seven and one-half acres, in Section 6, having purchased this property a number of years previously, and a considerable portion of the same was cleared by him, with the assistance of his sons, and he erected the present substantial and attractive buildings. He is now living retired from active labor, enjoying the reward of his former endeavors and surrounded by his family and a host f loyal friends. May 15, 1854, Mr. Feltz was united in marriage o Miss Mary Valter, daughter of Walter and Catherine (Minlott) Valter, of Sandusky county, Ohio, whither they came from France, and the following is a brief record concerning the children of this union Mary is the wife of Nicholas Dowling; Edward is deceased ; Eugene, Jr., operates the home farm of his father; and Joseph owns and operates the old homestead previously mentioned. Mr. Feltz and his family are communicants of St. Mary's Catholic church, at St. Mary's Corners, Amboy township, and he has aided materially in the support of the parish work and in the upbuilding of the flourishing organization. He contributed liberally to the erection of the attractive church edifice, now utilized, as did he also for the original church, which was of primitive type. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and he has always shown a helpful concern in local affairs, and he served one term as supervisor of his township.   BIOGRAPHICAL - 349   CHARLES H. FENTON, one of the well known and representative young farmers of Clinton township, was born in Ridgeville township, Henry county, Ohio, on the 11th of September, 1881, and is a ion of Henry K. and Emma C. (Worden) Fenton, the former of whom Was born in Henry county, Ohio, and the latter in Coshocton county. The father died in 1889, having been one of the prominent and honored man of Henry county. His widow now resides in the city of Wauseon, Fulton county. Of their two children Charles H. is the skier. Howard N. is now a student in the Ohio Weslyan University and has his home with his widowed mother, who removed from Henry county to Fulton county in 1902, purchasing the old Hodges farm, one mile south of Wauseon, where Charles H. now resides. The place comprises one hundred and forty acres of excellent land, the major portion of the same is under effective cultivation, and the improvements include good buildings and other needed provisions. Charles H. Fenton passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead in Henry county, in whose public schools he secured his preliminary educational discipline, while in 1891-2 he was a student in the. Ohio Northern University, a well equipped normal institution, at Ada, being there graduated as a member of the class of 1892. His , vocation throughout life has been that of farming, his knowledge of the details of the industry being of the most intimate sort, so that be has been able to secure good returns from his efforts in this connection. Since the removal of the family to Fulton county he has had charge of the home farm.. In politics Mr. Fenton is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 23rd of September, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fenton to Miss Matilda Winzeler, who was born in Wauseon, this county, in a81, the same year of her husband's birth. She is a daughter of Frank W: and Mary (Seiler) Winzeler. Her father was born in Switzerland, December 24, 1849, and came with his parents to America in 1854, in which year the family located in Franklin township, Fulton county, Ohio. Her grandfather, Jacob Winzeler, was born in Switz- erland, in 1821, was a shoemaker by trade and vocation, and he served as a member of the country guards during the progress of the French revolution. After coming to America he followed his trade two years and then purchased a tract of wild land, in Franklin township, where he was killed by a falling tree, in 1862. Sarah (Kutzley) Winzeler, mother of Frank W., was likewise born in. Switzerland, and she died, May 17, Iwo, at .a venerable age. In 1872 Frank W. Winzeler was united in marriage to Miss Mary Seiler, who was born in Switzerland, and who came with her parents, Jacob and Mary (Meister) Seiler, to America in 1855. Jacob Seiler was a successful school teacher in his native land, and also taught seven years after coming to the United States, being a man of fine intellectuality. He now resides on his homestead, his devoted wife having passed away in March 1904, at the age of eighty-one years. Frank W. Winzeler secured hi: educational training in the common schools and remained associated with his father until he had attained his legal majority, after whirl:   350 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   he, followed the carpenter trade for seven years. After his marriage he located on a farm in Lenawee county, Mich., where he remained three years, at the expiration of which he returned to Fulton county and purchased a farm of forty acres, which he later sold, forthwith purchasing the fine farm upon which he now resides. He is a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance, and he served two terms as trustee of Franklin township. Both he and his wife are members of the religious organization known as the German Evangelical Association. They have nine children: Minnie, who is the wife of Adolph Steckle, of Wauseon; Edward, of Idaho, married Miss Grace Lee of that place; Matilda, who is the wife of Charles H. Fenton, subject of this review ; and Lillian, Alfred, Frances, Jacob, Sylva and Raymond. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton have no children.   WILLIAM H. FIELDS, a builder and house-mover of Wauseon, was born in Enniskillen, Ontario, Canada. He is the son of William and Mary Ann Sophrona (Shoaff) Fields, both natives of Canada. William Fields came to Wauseon in 1865, where he engaged in building and house-moving, in which business he was quite successful. For some years he was actively engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. During the thirty-eight years that he conducted his business so successfully in Wauseon, he found some time to devote to society and social affairs. Odd Fellowship he took a very active part, having passed all the chairs of that organization, and was quite prominent all over the State. He was equally active in the temperance cause, being identified with all the temperance societies. It is therefore not to be wondered at that he enjoyed the respect of all classes. He died m 1902 at the age of seventy- five years and is survived by his widow, who is still in remarkably good health, notwithstanding she is seventy-six years old. There were born to this marriage the following children : Almira (deceased), who was the wife of Miles Root of Clinton township; Sarah E., wife of Jason Dowell of Toledo, 0.; Sophrona (deceased), who was the wife of James Murphy of Wauseon; William H., the subject of this sketch; Madison, of Michigan; Cyrus, of Chicago; Anna M. (deceased), who was the wife of David M. Mikesell of Toledo; Cora B., wife of John Maxwell of Michigan; and Charles, of Wauseon. William H. Fields, the subject of this sketch was nine years old when he came to Wauseon with his parents. He was educated in the public schools of his home city. After leaving school he formed a partnership with his father in the contracting and house-moving business, in which he is still actively engaged. His success is largely due to the fact that he is thoroughly equipped for his work, understanding it in every detail. So carefully are buildings moved under his direction that comparatively little damage is done to them. As a matter of course he enjoys a very liberal patronage. He married Miss Adaline A. Dunbar, daughter of James Dunbar, born in New London, Conn., in 1817, who located in Erie county, in 1831, and two years later in Clinton township, Fulton county, where he entered wild land. The maiden name of Mrs. Fields' mother was   BIOGRAPHICAL - 351   Gleason. The children of Mr. and Mrs. James Dunbar are : William Wallace (deceased), who served in the Civil war; Gurden R. B., who was killed in the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia; Martha E., now to wife of. Henry B. Scott, of Seattle, Washington; Mary (deceased) ; Adaline A. wife of William H. Fields; Orin R. (deceased) Anna M., wife of Madison Fields, and William Sherman of Wauseon. —The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Fields has been blessed with one child, Arthur J.   ROBERT J. FINN is one of the energetic and enterprising young farmers of Chesterfield township, his well-improved homestead being located about two miles west of the village of Lyons, which is his postoffice address, though he enjoys the advantages of the rural free mail-delivery service. Mr. Finn was born in Fulton township, this county, on the 26th of March, 1879, and is a son of James and Rachel J. (Watkins) Finn. James Finn was born in Michigan m 1852, and he took up his residence in Fulton county, Ohio, about 1870, being employed in a saw-mill the first two years, and then securing employment on the farm of Robert Watkins, whose daughter, Rachel became his wife. He continued on the farm of his father-in-law about four years thereafter, and Mr. Watkins then presented to his daughter, Mrs. Finn, a portion of the homestead farm, where they lived until 1891, with the exception- of two years passed in Delta, this county. In the year mentioned James Finn purchased the farm where his son, Robert J., now resides, the same comprising one hundred and eight acres, of which he gave to the subject of this sketch forty acres at the time of the latter's marriage, and the son now has charge of the operation of the entire farm, his parents maintaining their residence in the village of Morenci, Mich., about six miles distant, and the father having retired from active labor. Robert J. Finn secured his rudimentary education in the school known as the Basswood school, in Fulton township, the district having gained its name from the fact that the first school-house there erected was constructed of basswood logs. He later attended school at Maple Grove, after which he continued his studies two years in the high school at Morenci, Mich., supplementing this training by attending the Fayette Normal University for one year. Thereafter he was employed in a clerical capacity for three years, in the village of Morenci, Mich., and after his marriage, in 1900, he located on the home farm, which he has since operated with much success. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he has held several local offices of public trust, being at the present time constable of his township. He is a charter member of the Morenci lodge of the Knights of Pythias, and is also identified with the Grange of Fulton county. On the 7th of March, 1900, Mr. Finn was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Geyser, who was born in Swanton, this county, March 14, 1879, being a daughter of William and Catherine (Schrock) Geyser, who are now residents of Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Finn have a fine little son, William Geyser Finn, born February 2, 1902:   352 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   JACOB H. FIRST, one of the successful farmers and well-known citizens of Clinton township, where he has maintained his home for more than thirty years, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the 22nd of April, 1840, and is a son of Samuel and Eliza (Keister) First, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Wayne county, Ohio, in which latter county both remained residents until death, the father having been a farmer by vocation. Jacob H. First was reared and educated in his native county, where he continued identified with agricultural pursuits until August 22, 1862, when he went forth to do yeoman service in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served two years, then becoming a member of Company E, One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and one year later by re-enlistment he became a member of the Forty-eighth Ohio Regiment, Company E, with which he remained in active service until after the close of the war, having received his honorable discharge on the 5th of October, 1865. He thereafter continued engaged in farming in Wayne county until 1872, when he came to Fulton county, where he purchased his present well-improved farm, comprising fifty-three acres, all under cultivation. He is a man of distinctive energy and business ability and has made a success of the vocation which has represented his life-work, and he has ever commanded the esteem and confidence of his fellow-men. He is one of the loyal supporters of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and the served as constable for two years and as road supervisor for three years. He is a member of the Christian church. In 1868 Mr. First was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth J. Lawrence, daughter of Henry and Barbara (Durr) Lawrence, the former of whom passed his entire life in Wayne county, Ohio, engaged in farming. The latter was born in Columbiana county, and her death occurred on the home farm, in Wayne county. Mrs. First was summoned into eternal rest on the 15th of January,, 1894, being survived by four children, namely: Margaret E., who is the wife of John Miller, of Chicago; Ethan, married Miss Addle Eck and who resides in Wauseon; and Jessie A. and Cleon L., who remain with their father on the home farm.   FRANK L. FLEMING is another of the native sons of Fulton county who has found it expedient to here continue his residence and to follow the important line of industry to which he was reared, the wisdom of his course being signified in his status as one of the successful farmers and honored citizens of Pike township. Mr. Fleming was born in Fulton township, this county, on the 23d of May, 1847, and is a son of Amos and Catherine (Lasell) Fleming, both of whom were born in the State of New York, and their marriage was solemnized in Huron county, Ohio, the respective families having located in the Buckeye State in an early day. In 1845 the parents of the subject of this sketch came to Fulton county and located on a pioneer farm in Fulton township, where the mother died m Febru-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 353   ary, 1878, her husband passing away in 1889. Amos Fleming was one of the prominent farmers and well-known citizens of Fulton township, and was a man of unimpeachable integrity, commanding the esteem of all who knew him. Frank L. Fleming was reared on the home farm and his educational privileges were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. He has always made agriculture his vocation and in the connection has put forth much energy and good judgment in the management of his affairs, so that his success has been cumulative, and he has became the owner of one of the fine farm properties of the county, his estate comprising one hundred and forty-two acres of fertile land, well-drained and equipped with modern improvements, including a commodious residence, large barn and other farm buildings. Mr. Fleming takes a loyal interest in local affairs and lends his aid and influence in the support of measures tending to advance the general welfare. He is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, has served three terms as township trustee, and for five years he was a member of the school board. He is affiliated with Fulton Lodge, No. 48, Free and Accepted Masons, at Delta, and with Berry Grange, No. 1n 1, at Ai. On the 21st of December, 1869, Mr. Fleming was united in marriage to Miss Clarinda A. Mercer, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, November 28, 1849, a daughter of Washington and Elizabeth (Harvot) Mercer. Her father was a farmer by vocation and his death occurred in Ashland county. About 1857 his widow came with her children to Fulton county, locating near Ai, in Fulton township, where she still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Fleming are the parents of seven sons: James 13., Lewis W., Roy H., Frederick L., Sidney A., Floyd and Carl M. James and Sidney are carpenters by trade, and the former is foreman in the mill of the Demeresq Lumber company, at Delta, Ohio. The two youngest sons remain at the parental home. JOSEPH P. FLORY, who is successfully established in the general merchandise business at Archbold, where he has a well-equipped establishment in which he handles dry-goods, boots and shoes, etc., was born in German township, this county, on the 22d of December, 1858, and is a son of Peter and Josephine (Carto) Flory, both of whom were born in France, Havre having been the native place of the former. When Peter Flory was an infant his parents immigrated to America. in 1832, and ten years later they came to Fulton county, Ohio, becoming pioneers of German township, within whose borders the thriving little city of Archbold is situated. Joseph Flory, father of Peter, died soon after the family took up their abode in Fulton county, and of his four sons, Peter is the only one now living. The latter became one of the well-to-do farmers of German township, and he and his wife now reside in Archbold, enjoying the benefices of their former years of earnest toil and endeavor. They became the parents of eight children, all of whom are living: Joseph P. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Lewis E. is engaged in the 'dry-goods business in East Toledo;   354 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   Andrew is identified with, the Toledo Malleable Iron Works; Edward J. is engaged in the clothing business in Toledo, Ohio ; Stephen is associated with his brother, Lewis E., in East Toledo; Frederick is employed by the William Taylor Sons' Co., in Cleveland; and Amon is with the Winton Automobile company. Joseph P. Flory was reared on the home farm and secured his early education in the public schools of German township, and he later took a thorough course in the Cleveland Commercial College, being graduated as a member of the class of 1880. Thereafter he was employed in the mercantile establishment of Hull Brothers, in Archbold, for one year, at the expiration of which he purchased their stock and business, in association with Joseph Moyne, whose interest he later acquired, having since been sole proprietor of the business, which he has made one of the most successful of the sort in the town, having a representative support and enjoying the confidence of the community. He is an enterprising and public spirited citizen, is a stanch Democrat in politics, has served two terms each as township treasurer and village treasurer, and he is at the present time a member of the village council of his home town. In 1883 Mr. Flory was married to Miss Catharine Wahl, of Cleveland, Ohio, she being a daughter of Ignatius Wahl. Four children have been born of this union, the names and respective dates of birth being as follows: Celia, February 27, 1884; Lawrence, May 12, 1885: Coletta Olive (deceased), May 3o, 1887, died November 6, 1892; and No Joseph, born March, 1889.   ANSEL L. FORD is the owner of one of the largest and best landed estates in Gorham township, where he was born and reared, and he is well known as a progressive and successful farmer and as an extensive buyer and shipper of live-stock. He was born on the 5th of August, 1851, and is a son of CyruS and Fanny (Landis) Ford. Cyrus Ford was born in Cummington, Hampshire county, Mass., and was a son of Ansel Ford, who brought his family to Ohio in 1842 and settled in what is now Gorham township, Fulton county, securing a tract of land one mile east and one mile north of the present home of his grandson, whose name initiates this paragraph. In the East he had been a manufacturer of scythe snaths, grain cradles, etc., but after coming to Ohio he made farming his vocation, having cleared and improved his land and had been duly prosperous, and both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in this county. The Ford family is of stanch Scotch extraction and was early founded in New England, as was also the Tower family, of which Deborah, wife of Ansel Ford, was a member. Ansel and Deborah Ford became the parents of ten children: Charles, Otis, Amos, Lucius, Hosea and Cyrus are deceased; Frank resides in Fayette, this county ; Elmina is the deceased wife of Benjamin Russell, whose second wife was her next younger sister, Delia, who survives him and resides in Fayette; and Ann became the wife of Nathan Shaw, both being deceased. Cyrus Ford devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits and was one of the honored pioneers of Gorham township. He was born May 18, 1822, and died August 29,   BIOGRAPHICAL - 355   1868, having joined the Republican party at the time of its organization and having been one of its prominent representatives in Fulton county. His wife, Fanny (Landis) Ford, was born in Erie county, N. Y., whither her parents removed from Maryland, and finally they came to Ohio, remaining for some time in Toledo and then removing to Williams county, continuing to reside in this section of the State until the death of the former. The latter makes her home with the subject of this sketch. Cyrus and Fanny Ford became the parents of seven children: Otis resides in Fayette ; Mary Alice is the wife of Frank Nicker; Ansel L. is the subject of this sketch ; David resides in Morenci, Mich.; Ella is the widow of Dr. Harry Van Buskirk and resides in Fayette ; John B. is a farmer of Gorham township; and Addie holds a clerical position in the general store of the Fulton. County Co-operative company, in Fayette. Ansel L. Ford was educated in the public schools of his native township, and he has never severed his allegiance to the fundamental art of agriculture, under whose gracious influences he was reared. He is the owner of about three hundred and ninety acres of land, all in Gorham township, and the greater portion is maintained under effective cultivation, and his homestead is improved with good buildings and is one of the most attractive in this part of the county He has been a stock-grower for many years and has also built up large and prosperous business as a buyer and shipper of stock, being one of the leading dealers of the county and being known as straightforward and able business man. In politics he is a stanch Re publican, is the present assessor of his township and he served six years as township trustee, was real-estate appraiser and has served of the school board several terms, at varying intervals. He has beei a member of the election board of the township on nineteen different occasions, and is one of the highly esteemed citizens of his native township. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and has filled all the official chairs in his lodge. Reverting to his operations as dealer in live stock, it may be said that he has taken stock to Buffalo each year for the past thirty-one years, and no man in the county is a better judge in that line than is he. September 20, 1874, Mr. Ford was united in marriage to Miss Anna Humphrey, a daughter the late Renselaer Humphrey, of Fayette, and they have five children: Alvah C., Bermah R., Elbert Clare, Denver A. and Demah A all of whom are living, Alvah being one of the representative young farmers of Gorham township.   STEPHEN FOUTY, who is now living retired in the city of Wauseon, was for many years actively engaged in farming in York township, and is a citizen of sterling character. He was born Mahoning county, Ohio, on the 17th of February, 1837, and is son of William Fouty, who removed to Fulton county in 1850, b coming one of the representative farmers of York township, whet he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 186 His wife died in Mahoning county. Stephen Fouty was reared maturity in Mahoning county, where he received a common-school 356 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   education, and he came with his father to Fulton county, where he has thus made his home for more than half a century, and he assisted in the reclaiming of a farm in the midst of the dense forest. He was among the first to tender his services in defense of the Union when the dark cloud of civil war shadowed the national horizon. On the 28th of October, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company E, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he remained sip service for three years, receiving his honorable discharge on the 28th of October, 1864,. in the city of Washington. He took part n the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and other important engagements and was a leal and loyal soldier of the republic. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Fouty continued to reside on his farm until 1892, when he removed to Wauseon, where he has since lived retired, enjoying the rewards of his former toils and endeavors. On the 11th of January, 1865, Mr. Fouty was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Haines; who was born in Medina county, Ohio, on the 23d of December, 1844, and who died in December, 1869, leaving two children: Norval, who is a successful of Fulton county; and Theodore, of whom individual mention is made in the succeeding review. In 1871 Mr. Fouty married Mrs. Leda Eck, who died May 11, 1893, leaving one child by a former husband. October 23, 1903, Mr. Fouty was united in marriage to Mrs. Amanda Gillett, who died on the 5th of April, 1905.   THEODORE FOUTY, one of the representative farmers of York township, was born and reared in Fulton county, where he has passed his entire life. He is a son of Stephen Fouty, of whom individual mention is .made elsewhere in this work. Mr. Fouty was born on the homestead farm, in York township, on the 12th of September, 1867, and his fundamental educational training was secured in the district school, after which he continued his studies in the Wauseon high school and in the normal school at Wauseon. He has made fanning his vocation and is one of the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of his native county. His farm is equipped with excellent improvements and comprises one hundred acres of most fertile land. In politics Mr. Fouty is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and he takes a loyal interest in public affairs of a local nature. He has served several terms as a member of the board of education of his township. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is identified with the Wauseon camp of Sons of. Veterans. In 1889, Mr. Fouty was united in marriage to Miss Martha D. Miller, who was born in York township on the 5th of July, 1869, being a daughter of Warren T. and Henrietta (Dumeresque) Miller. Mrs. Fouty was summoned to the life eternal on the 23d of June, 1897, leaving two children : Viola M., who was born January 20, 1890, and Willis D., who was born November 21, 1896. May 11, 1898, Mr. Fouty was married to Miss C. Edith Tressler, who was born in Holgate, Henry county, Ohio, being a daughter of George W. and Celia (Van Fleet) Tress-   BIOGRAPHICAL - 357   ler. Her father was born in Liberty township, Henry county, December 22, 1854, and was a train dispatcher by vocation. He died at Rawlins, Wyoming, on the loth of July, 1896, while en route home from California, his death occurring on the train. His wife was born in Liberty township, Henry county, Ohio, March 10, 1857, and she died March 1, 1889, at Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Fouty have three children, namely : Vera L., born November 8, 1900; Alda L., born October 23, 1903 ; and Celia C., born June 29, 1904.   WILLIAM E. FOWLER, secretary of the Delta Building, Loan and Savings company, and ex-mayor of Delta, was born in York township of Fulton county, January 4, 1852. His ancestors have long been established in America, the founders being of German extraction. He iS the son of Thomas W. and Lucy L. (Eddy) Fowler, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York State. Both accompanied their parents to what is now Fulton county and ended their days there. From 1833 to 1896 Thomas W. Fowler was a successful and prosperous farmer, dying in September of the latter year. He and wife were the parents of four children. Those living are : William E., the eldest; Robert, a retired farmer of Delta, and Mrs. Cornelia Meltin of Menton, Ind. His first wife having died July 15, 186o, he married again and became the father of one son, Eli, a real-estate agent of Guide Rock, Neb. William E. Fowler was educated in the public schools of his native tOWnship and Wauseon, and began his business career as a clerk in the dry-goods establishment of W. R. Huntington of Delta, remaining in the latter's employ five years. He then went into partnership with Ward. Barber, of Colorado Springs, Col., in the clothing and furnishing business. In 1888 Mr. Barber retired, Robert Fowler being his successor. The firm of Fowler Bros. conducted a large and lucrative business until 1892, when a destructive fire practically destroyed the town of Delta and caused the firm to lose heavily. Since that time Mr. Fowler has been engaged principally in the real-estate business, combing with it loans and insurance, in the management of which he has met with marked success. Being a notary public he transacts a very large business in conveyancing and in drawing legal papers. The Delta Building, Loan and Savings company was organized in 1889, the incorporators being Hon. Franklin Briggs, A. L. and M. S. Sargent, Henry G. Geiger, now of Wauseon, and William E. Fowler, A. L. Sargent being president from the organization until 1902, when he was succeeded by Franklin Briggs. The assets of the institution, which now amount to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, are augmented every year. Mr. Fowler has served as secretary from the date of organization. The company has fine offices and safety vaults which have been occupied for seven years. Since 1875, Mr. Fowler has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248. He also holds membership in Octavius Waters Chapter Royal Arch Masons and has held various offices in the above societies. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1898 he was elected mayor of Delta,   358 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   and being popular with many of the Republicans he was re-elected in 1902 for a term of two years, which was cut short one year by the operation of the new code, Mr. Fowler was first married in 1892 . to Miss Cora Ackerman, who died February 7, 1900. August 12, 1902, he was wedded to Miss Nellie Oaks, a native of New York State, but since childhood her parental home has been in the extreme Southern part of Michigan, near Lyons, Fulton county, Ohio.   ANDREW J. FRAKER, member of the Delta Stave company of Delta, is a native of Clinton township, Fulton county, having been born near Wauseon, June 26, 1848. He is the son of George and Mary Ann (Gorsuch) Fraker, both natives of Ohio. George Fraker was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1819, and at the age of sixteen years came to Fulton county, at a time when the Indians still occupied that territory, and settled with his parents near Delta in 1835. Our subject's grandfather, Thomas Fraker, was a native of Pennsylvania, and was a bound boy in that State, where he learned his trade. Thomas Fraker entered a farm adjoining the present corporation limits of Delta, and there spent the remainder of his life, leaving a valuable estate at his death. When his son George attained to hi; majority Thomas Fraker entered for him the land near Pettisville, Clinton township, on which all of his family were born and reared. George Fraker was reared on a farm and chose farming and stock breeding as his vocation in life, and that he made a wise choice is evidenced by the fact that he was at the time of his death a prosperous and wealthy man. He was one of the organizers of Fulton county, and was prominently identified with its history for many years, having assisted in cutting the first road in the county, and born his full share in the establishment of schools, churches and county buildings. George Fraker and wife were the parents of eight children. They are: Andrew J., Thomas Jefferson, who died at the age of five years; George, who was forty years old at the time of his death; Benjamin, who died of the mumps at the age of twenty-one years ; Amanda Elizabeth, the wife of J. V. Robinson of Toledo, Ohio; William I., who resides on the old homestead ; Edna the wife of Judge J. V. Cuff of Napoleon, Ohio ; Isabel, the widow of Fred. Bennett, who lives with her relatives, and is the owner of considerable property in Pettisville. George Fraker died it the age of eighty-four years and his wife at the age of seventy-two years. Both were well known and highly esteemed in Fulton County. Andrew J. Fraker was educated principally at Pettisville and grew to manhood on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one years he left the parental roof without a dollar to help him make his way in the world. His first work was on a farm in Illinois, where he began, April 3, and by Christmas, when he returned home, he was the proud owner of a new suit of clothes and one hundred and sixty dollars in money. Then he farmed on his father's place for one season, receiving in payment a share of the crops. Then he bought a well-drilling outfit and for fifteen years he was engaged in putting down wells for the farmers of Fulton and   BIOGRAPHICAL - 359   Henry counties, realizing quite a handsome profit. In 1878 he purchased a saw-mill, a planing-mill and a lumber business at the location of the present stave factory, and continued the business until it grew to such proportions that he could no longer care for it by himself, when he sold a half interest to Byron Yarnell. After running the establishment for five years, the planing-mill was destroyed by fire, when Mr. Yarnell sold his interest back to Mr. Fraker, who then sold the entire plant to the Dewey Stave company. After resting from active business for three years, he, in May, 1903, associated himself with Charles P. Grisier of Wauseon, and Gotshall Brothers Of Archbold and re-purchased the plant, now known as the Delta .Stave company. The plant gives employment to twenty men, and 'from five to ten additional men are employed m the timber with from ten to twelve teams. The output, consisting wholly of staves laid heading, is shipped in car-load lots to all parts of the country. Mr. Fraker is a stock-holder and vice-president of the Farmers' National bank of Delta, capitalized at twenty-five thousand dollars, of which institution he is one of the incorporators. He is the owner of four hundred acres of fine farming land, located in different parts of the county and wholly free of any encumbrance. This land in connection with a third interest in the Delta Stave company and his home property comprises the principal part of his possessions, excepting seven thousand dollars which he recently inherited. Mr. Fraker is a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is identified with the Democratic party m national issues, but independent in local elections. Four years he has been township treasurer and for eight years treasurer of Delta special school district. January 14, 1878, he was wedded to Miss Rachel Fauble, a daughter of Isaac and Rachel (Watkins) Fauble, who were among the oldest and most prominent families of Fulton township. Mr. and Mrs. Fraker are the parents of three children, all graduates of Delta high school. They are : Charles I., employed in his father's business ; William H., assistant cashier of the Farmers' National bank, and Herma, at home.   JOHN GEE, one of the venerable pioneer citizens of York township, was born in Ulster county, New York, on the 27th of May, 1822, and when he was about twelve years of age his parents removed from the old Empire State to Ohio, settling in Seneca county, where he was reared to manhood on a farm. There he continued to make his home, engaged in agricultural pursuits, until 1865, when he came to Fulton county and settled in York township, where he has ever since resided, save for a period of about four years, which he passed in Clinton township. He improved a valuable farm, which he still owns, and he is a man who has ever commanded the unqualified confidence and regard of the community in which he has so long made his home. On the 25th of March, 1849, Mr. Gee was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Grove, who was born in Frederick county, Maryland, on the 23d of December, 1830, and who remained his devoted companion during more than half a century,   360 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   her death occurring on the 17th of July, 1901. They became the parents of two sons, William H., of whom individual mention is made upon a succeeding page of this work, and John C., who resides in. Eaton county, Michigan. Mr. Gee is a Republican in his political views and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was also his wife.   FRANCIS B. GEER, attorney and counsellor-at-law of Swanton, is a native of Ohio, having been born at Norwalk, Huron county, May 7, 1851. He is the grandson of Amos C. and Dollie (Thompson) Geer, both natives of Vermont, where they were married and whence they removed to Ohio in 1832, locating in Lorain county. After a residence of eighteen years in that county they removed to Norwalk, Huron county. Five years later Amos Geer removed to Oberlin, where he died at the age of eighty-five years. He served in the War of 1812, enlisting as a volunteer from his native State. His first wife dying in 1849, he later was wedded to Harriet Chapin, who survived him until 1905, residing in Oberlin, where she died at the venerable age of ninety years. Of the children born to the first marriage eight attained years of maturity, Sylvia A. and Anna dying in infancy. Their names follow: Heman, Ezra, Benoni T., Abner, Betsey A., David, Hannah Eliza and Wakeley W. All are deceased except Mrs. Betsey A. (Geer) Thompson and David. Francis B. Geer is the son of Benoni T. and Louisa (Jones) Geer, both natives of Ohio. Benoni T. Geer came with his parents to Lorain county, 0., in childhood and there assisted in clearing a new farm. At the age of seven years he took his ax and went to work felling trees, early in life becoming an adept in the use of that very necessary pioneer implement. Subsequently the family removed to Norwalk, Huron county, where from the time he was fifteen years old until his marriage he made his home in the family of Thomas B. Benedict and completed his education by graduating from the Norwalk academy. Then he studied law under the tutorship of "Oc." Kellogg. Later he attended the Cincinnati Law school, and was admitted to the practice of law in 1853. When Francis B. was only two years old his father came to Lucas county and taught a Special school, termed a "Geography school," for one term. He then returned to Huron county and brought his wife and child back with him, becoming a permanent resident of this locality in 1853, at a time when the country was new and the Lake Shore railroad had not been constructed. Benoni T. Geer began the practice of law at East Swanton, Swanton township, and continued there until 1892. When not otherwise engaged, he devoted his attention to the management of a farm that he had purchased there. In 1892 he established the office in Swanton that is now occupied by his son, the original sign and safe occupying their wonted places. At the age of sixty-six years, seized by a severe attack of La Grippe, from the effects of which he never fully recovered, his health began to decline, forcing him to wholly abandon his practice in 1896, and on June 4,. three years later, he died. He was a zealous and active worker in   BIOGRAPHICAL - 361   politics and a recognized leader in the councils of the Republican, party. The only public office that he ever held was that of deputy provost marshal during the period of the Civil war. Of a retiring disposition and generous nature, he was always prompt to assist with his means in every worthy enterprise. Having been quite liberal it his religious views for forty years prior to his death, he was not communicant in any church. He was thrice married, his first wife dying of consumption at Norwalk, 0., in February, 1858, age twenty-eight years. To this marriage one son, Francis B., was born pia second wife was Miss Velina Marsh, by whom he had fiv( children. They are: Wakeley W., Ellsworth W., Ernest B. an Edith L., all of Swanton, and Luella, the wife of Charles R. Trumbull of Toledo, 0. By his third wife, Sarah Dixon, who is stil living, he had three children. Grace, the wife of Vernon Black, railroad engineer on the "Clover Leaf," residing at Charleston, Ill. Otis and Roy Payson, a railway fireman of Charleston. Francis B Geer is practically a self-educated man, his limited school education having been received at 'East Swanton. He began teaching whet nineteen years old, and for the next thirteen years continued in the profession, at the same time preparing himself for the practice o law. In 1883 he received the appointment of postal clerk in th railway mail service, running from Detroit to Toledo. After th occupation of one year he was placed in charge of the "local case between Cleveland and Chicago, serving in that capacity for thre years. Then he accepted the position of first deputy sheriff of Lucas county under Dr. William Cullison, who died very suddenly while in office. Upon relinquishing this position he turned his attention more closely to the law, and on March 17, 1899, was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Ohio, since which time he has been continuously in the legal work. Politically he is a stalwart Republican, having in earlier life devoted much of his time to conducting political campaigns. In the work of the Knights of Pythic he takes a deep interest. Liberal in his religious views, he believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, but he is not wholly in accord with the teaching of Orthodoxy. Mr. Geer has been twice marries His first wife was Miss Martha E. Dixon, a younger sister of h father's third wife. Four sons and one daughter were born to th union, the daughter, Louisa E., dying when three months old. Two sons are: Nathan B., Claud F., Arthur F. and Alfred W. Of the Nathan B. has been a teacher for the past fourteen years and the others are variously employed. Mrs. Geer died on December 2 1891. He was married to his present companion on June 9, 1904 the lady of his choice being Mrs. Emma J. (Homer) Harris. She was a student under her husband's teaching and subsequently became a teacher herself.   362 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   ALBERT N. DREW, a well-known citizen of the village of Lyons and a representative of one of the pioneer families of Fulton county, was born in the city of Buffalo, New York, on the 6th of April. 1847, and is a son of Colonel William H. and Emeline (Richardson) Drew, the former of whom was born in Shelburne, Chittenden county, Vermont, and the latter in Royalton, Niagara county, New York, both having been born in the year 1818, and their marriage was solemnized in 1838. In December, 1862, they settled on a farm in Royalton township, Fulton county, Ohio, securing a tract of eighty acres, which the father partially reclaimed from the virgin forest. In 1868 he disposed of his farm and removed with his family to the village of Lyons, where he conducted the local hotel one year, at the expiration of which he removed to Blissfield, Michigan, where he conducted for several years what was known as the Dewey Hotel. The building was finally destroyed by fire and he erected a new and more modern building, to which he gave the name of the Drew Hotel and which he conducted for thirty years. The building is still in use as a hotel and is known as Coon's Tavern. In 1898 Colonel Drew removed to Burr Oak, Michigan, purchasing a farm in that locality and there continuing to reside until his death, which occurred on the 2nd of June, 1902. His venerable widow now resides in Lyons, Ohio, making her home with her son, Albert N., subject of this review. One other child is living, Addie C., who is now the wife of George W. Edson, of Detroit, Michigan. At the outbreak of the Civil war Colonel William H. Drew tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting, in May, 1861, in the Twenty-first New York volunteer infantry, of which he was made major, serving as such until the following July, the regiment having been stationed during this time at Elmira, New York. He then went to the front with the regiment, but was compelled to resign from the service in October, 1862, on account of physical disability, having the rank of lieutenant colonel at the time of his retirement. After his removal to Ohio Governor Brough appointed him paymaster of Ohio troops in the Western Army, with the rank of Colonel, and he served in that capacity until the close of the war. Thereafter he served two years as clerk of the Ohio State senate. Albert N. Drew passed the first fifteen years of his life in the city of Buffalo, New York, where he secured his early educational training in the public schools, and he accompanied his parents to Ohio in the winter of 1862, as noted. He became a member of the Ohio National Guard during the progress of the Civil war, but his father caused him to withdraw from the same, on account of his youth. On the 2d of May, 1864, however, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio   BIOGRAPHICAL - 363   volunteer infantry, with which he served until the expiration of his term of one hundred and forty days, when he received his honorable discharge, at Toledo, September 22, 1864. On the 15th of the following January he re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company M, Seventh, Michigan Cavalry, with which he continued in service until December 15, 1865, when he again received an honorable discharge, having continued in the ranks several months after the surrender of General Lee. After his return home Mr. Drew engaged in farming, in Royalton township, Fulton county, where he was thus concerned until spring of 1888, when he removed to the city of Chicago, where he remained sixteen years as. a trusted employe of the Chicago City Railway Company. In the spring of 1905 he returned to Fulton county Iind located in the village of Lyons, where he is now living practically retired. In politics Mr. Drew gives an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, and his religious faith is that of the Universalist churrch, of which his wife is a member. He is a charter member of Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the Republic, in Lyons, and takes a deep interest in his old comrades of the Civil war period. August 27, 1868, Mr. Drew was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Jordan, daughter of Amos H. and Rebecca (Livesay) Jordan, of Royalton township. Mr. Jordan was born in the State of Vermont and settled in Royalton township, Fulton county, in 1834, becoming one of the extensive land-holders of the county and one of its honored and influential pioneers. Both he and his wife continued resident of the county until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Drew have two children : William H., who is a resident of Adrian, Michigan; and Hattie E., who is the wife of Strickland A. Slack, of Lyons.   WILLIAM H. GEE, son of John and Catherine (Grove) Gee, mentioned on a preceding page, is in the employ of the government in capacity of mail carrier on rural route No 26, out of the village of Delta, and he is an efficient and popular official, being held in uniform esteem in the county in which the major portion of his life has been passed. Mr. Gee was born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1850, and was thus about fifteen years of age at the time of his parents removal to Fulton county, where he was reared to manhood on the homestead farm, aiding in its improvement and cultivation and receiving a fair common school education. Upon attaining maturity he learned the trade of brick-mason and plasterer and he followed his trade as a vocation for somewhat more than a score of years, after which he was engaged in farming until 1900, when he-was appointed to his present position in connection with the rural free mail delivery system, having one of the important routes in Fulton county. Although a mere boy at the time, Mr. Gee gave distinctive evidence of his patriotism and his loyalty to the Union when, on the 22d of February, 1864, he enlisted in Company B, Forty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served until June 17th of the same year, when he was granted an honorable diScharge, on account of illness which incapacitated him for active duty. He manifested his abiding interest in his old comrades of the   364 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   Civil war by retaining membership m that noble organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, whose ranks are being so rapidly thinned by the one invincible foe, death. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Christian church. In July, 1874, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gee to Miss Mary E. Biddle, daughter of Calvin Biddle, one of the pioneer citizens of Fulton county, and of this union have been born seven children, namely : Arthur B., who resides in Delta; Calvin John, who resides in South Delta-, Lucy B., who is the wife of Richard W. Dernier, of Eaton county,/ Michigan; Frederick, who died at the age of thirteen months, and Walton N., Gertrude Ellen and Mary Adella, who remain at the parental home in York township.   DAVID GEER, a prominent citizen and retired farmer residing near Swanton, is a native of Chittenden county, Vt., where he was born on February 7, 1832. He is a son of Amos C. and Dollie (Thompson) Geer, both natives of Vermont. After their marriage in their native State hiS parents removed to Ohio in 1832, and located in Lorain county, where they resided for eighteen years. On April 9, 1865, they removed to Norwalk, Huron county, and located in the neighborhood of the present residence of their son, David. Five years later Amos Geer removed to Oberlin, 0., where he ended his days. His first wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in 1852, and then he married Harriet Chapin, who died in September, 1905, at Oberlin, at the venerable age of ninety years. In the War of 1812 Amos Geer took an active part as a soldier from the Green Mountain State. He was born in July, 1790, and died at Oberlin at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. Of the children there were eight who attained years of maturity, Sylvia and Anna dying in infancy. Heman, the eldest, was a prominent minister of the Congregational church and spent twenty-five years of his professional life in Ashtabula county, 0. He died at Tabor, Ia., in 1892, aged seventy-three years, leaving a family of six children, two of whom have attained prominence, one as a professor of music and the other as a physician. Ezra Geer was a carpenter and builder by occupation, who died at Lake Cicott, near Logansport, Ind., in 1893, aged seventy-two years. Benoni T. Geer at the time of his death had attained prominence at the Swanton bar. Both he and his brother, the Rev. Heman Geer, died very suddenly, the cause of their death being heart disease. The former left a family of nine children. Abner Geer died of consumption at the age of sixteen years. Mrs. Betsey A. (Geer) Thompson was next in order of birth. She was married first, in 1868, to Henry Lacy, who enlisted in the Union army in 1863 and was wounded while in-the service; carrying a ball in his body until his death. He was the recipient of a liberal pension from the National government because of his disability. Henry Lacy dying, in less than two years after his marriage, his widow was wedded to Heman Thompson, born in 1820 and deceased in 1888. Prior to his marriage to the widow of Henry Lacy, he had married   BIOGRAPHICAL - 365   her sister, Hannah Eliza. He was a carpenter by occupation and died without leaving any children. For the past nine years Mrs. Thompson has made her home with her brother, David Geer. August 26, 1856, she was graduated from the lady's department Oberlin college, and since that time has devoted the greater part her active life to teaching. During the lifetime of her husbands taught school in the country, receiving two dollars per day for he professional services. While thus engaged she found time to do he own housework. She has also successfully conducted select school in Andover, Pierpont and Swanton. At present she is quite active engaged in Bible-class work and teaching in Sunday-schools. Though a devoted Christian woman, she is liberal in her religious views, believing that her influence, will be greater if not bound by an church creed. She and her brother David are now the only survivors of the family. Wakely W. Geer, a teacher by profession, was educated at Oberlin and died unmarried in 186o, at the age of twenty-four years. David Geer, in whose name this sketch is written, received his education by attending the public schools. Since 1855 has been a resident of Fulton county, occupying the farm of which he resides. This farm, embracing one hundred and fifty-two acres, has been divided among his children. Mr. Geer served under two enlistments during the Civil war. He first enlisted as a member of Company I of the Thirty-eighth Ohio, serving ten months in the Western army under Generals Thomas and Sherman, when he was discharged for disability. His second enlistment was in Company ] ot the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio for a period of one hundred days, serving near Petersburg, Va. Because of his disability receives a liberal pension. He is actively identified with Swanton Post, Grand Army of the Republic. On February 21, 1855, he was wedded to Miss Mary Ann Spaulding, born in Fulton township 1839, the daughter of Africa Spaulding, who came from the State of Maine about the year 1835 and located in Fulton county. To tli union there were born six children, three of whom are still living. Their names follow : Harriet, Josephine, May, Della, Addie and Grant S. Those living are: Harriet, the wife of Carl Griffin, farmer of Swan Creek township; Della, still at home, and Grant who operates the home farm. Mrs. Geer died in 1872 and Day Geer married Miss Eliza Matoon, a native of Swan Creek township, To this union there have been born three children. They are Sara the wife of William Zeller of Fulton county; Susan E., now Mrs John Wittgen of Fort Washington, Wis., and Lee, who resides ( the home farm.   CONRAD GEIGER is another of the sterling citizens who ha lent dignity to the noble art of agriculture through his association therewith, and he is one of the substantial farmers of Fulton tow ship, where he has a finely landed estate. He was born in Sene county, Ohio, February 22, 1836, and is a son of Henry and Christi (Zutervan) Geiger, both of whom were born in Germany, when they came to America, when young, their marriage being solemniz   366 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. They located on a farm in Seneca county, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father attaining the age of seventy years and being survived by his wife for several years. Of their eight children six are living, Conrad having been the first born. Catherine, who became the wife of John Hahlitzon, died in St. Joseph county, Ind.; Jacob resides in Bloomville, Seneca county, being a substantial 'capitalist and the president of two banks; William Martin is a prosperous farmer of Crawford county; Hannah Maria is the wife of Nelson N. Shaffner of Bloomville, Seneca county; John Henry is a farmer of DeKalb county, Ind., near Spencerville; Madison Paul, who is deceased, passed the most of his mature life as a farmer in Wyandot county, Ohio, and the other child died in infancy. Conrad Geiger secured a common-school education in his native county, and supplemented this by study in an excellent academy at Republic, that county, where he was actively associated with agricultural pursuits until the autumn of 1860, when he came to Fulton county, having previously come into possession of eighty acres of his present homestead, the tract being distinguished in that it has never been under mortgage from the time the government deed was granted to the present. In later years Mr. Geiger purchased an adjoining thirty-three acres, so that his estate now comprises one hundred and thirteen acres. Mr. Geiger has prepared most of the farm for cultivation and has erected fine buildings and made other substantial improvements which place this among the model farmsteads of the township. His residence is a commodious brick structure, erected about a score of years ago, and the other buildings are of excellent order and kept in good repair. In politics Mr. Geiger has always given his allegiance to the Democracy, and has taken a loyal interest in local affairs of a public nature, though never a seeker of office. He and his wife are valued members of the Reformed church. July 1, 1860, just prior to his removal to Fulton county, Mr. Geiger was married to Miss Annie Catherine Geiger, the two families being not consanguineous, though of the same name. She was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, July 23, 1837, a daughter of Jacob-and Magdalena Geiger, both natives of Germany. Her father crossed the ocean five times, bringing his affianced wife on his last trip, and their marriage was celebrated in the city of Philadelphia shortly after their landing in the new world. They resided in Pennsylvania four years and then removed to Sandusky county, Ohio, as pioneers, there passing the remainder of their lives. The father, -whose principal vocation was that of farming, died October 5, 1865, aged sixty-five years; and his widow attained the age of four score years, her death occurring November 21, 1888. They had nine children: Henry and Conrad are deceased; Mrs. Geiger was the next in order of birth; Susan is the wife of Edward Richards of Genoa, Ottawa county ; Jacob is a resident of Mississippi; Sophia is deceased; Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas McIntyre, and they reside in Florida; Caroline is the wife of James McIntyre, and they reside in Michigan; and William is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Geiger have had nine children, of whom only one is living, Maria   BIOGRAPHICAL - 367     E., the second child. She was born December 24, 1867, and was reared and educated in Fulton county. September 28, 1882, she became the wife of Lorenzo D. Price, of Monessen, Pa., and they have four children, Nellie, Catherine, Conrad G. and Alice. The eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Geiger was an infant son, who died unnamed; the next child was Mrs. Maria Price; the third child, Ella D., died at three years of age; the fourth was an infant son who died unnamed; the fifth was William N., who died at about eleven years of age; John C., the sixth child, died when about eight years old Emma, the seventh child, died in her seventh year; Henry, the eight child, died when about four years old, and the ninth child, an infant son, died unnamed.   PHILIP GARMAN is another of the native sons of Fulton county who has had the wisdom to here continue actively concerned in agricultural pursuits, and he is one of the representative farmers of the younger generation in Clinton township. He was born in Fulton county, on the 26th of March, 1867, and is a son of William and Jane (McKibben) Garman, well-known pioneers of the county, where they still maintain their home. Philip was reared on the home farm and has been one of sufficient prescience to take advantage of the inodern facilities for the handling of the details of farm work, so that his success has been one of unequivocal sort. His educational training in his youth was secured in the public schools in the vicinity of his home. In 1891 he purchased the present farm, which comprises twenty-six acres of excellent land, and the place is well improved. In addition to the work of his farm he operates a modern reshing outfit each season, finding ready requisition for the same and giving the best of service to his many patrons. He is held in unqualified esteem in the community and is at the present time incumbent of the office of assessor of Clinton township. December 25th, 1888, in gracious recognition of the Christmastide, Mr. Garman was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Stutzman, who was born March 31, 1869, being a daughter of David and Mary (Nicodemus) Stutzman. Mr. and Mrs. Garman have two children: Charles, born December 19, 1890; and Paul Encil, born April 20, 1898. David Stutzman, father of Mrs. Garman, is a prominent and honored farmer of Clinton township. He was born in the vicinity of Johnstown, Cambria county, Pa., May 24, 1836, and in that county was also born Mary Nicodemus, to whom he was married in November, 1860. Mr. Stutzman was identified with the iron-manufacturing industry in Pennsylvania about thirteen years, and in 1868 he came to Fulton county, Ohio, and purchased the farm on which he now resides. His wife was born May 2, 1842, and to them have been born five children: Charles married Emma Geringer and they reside in Paulding county, Ohio; Etta is the wife of Ellsworth McLaughlin, ol Clinton township; Ella is the wife of John Butler, and they reside in Missaukee county, Mich.; Sarah is the wife of Philip Garman whose name initiates this sketch; and Florence remains at the parental home. The original American ancestors of the Stutzman immigrated hither from Switzerland.